The Canadians are ranked 11th in the world, only two places above Pakistan, but cruised past their opponents at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.

Skipper Scott Tupper's penalty stroke put Canada ahead in the fourth minute before three goals in the second quarter settled the Pool B contest.

Iain Smythe scored twice before Floris van Son made the score 4-0 with a backhand strike.

Brenden Bissett and Gordon Johnston added further gloss to the scoreline by registering in the final quarter.

It means Canada have opened their account with a win, while Pakistan failed to bounce back from an opening 4-0 loss to The Netherlands yesterday.

"We were so good in all aspects of our game today, but the best part was our attacking," said Canada goalkeeper David Carter. 

"It has been a real long time since we scored six times against a top 20 ranked team, so I am really happy about how we played. 

"We have got some new faces up front and they are firing, so teams will have to be wary of that now."

In Pool B, Olympic champions Argentina made it two victories from two thanks to a 5-2 win over Malaysia.

Gonzalo Peillat scored four times from penalty corners with the South Americans pulling away after the score was locked at 2-2.

Facundo Callioni scored Argentina's fifth with Sharil Saabah and Tengku Tajuddin twice resorting parity for Malaysia.  

The top four countries in each five-team group will contest the quarter finals, with the four semi-finalists advancing to the HWL Final in Bhubaneswar in India.

Five automatic berths are available for the men's 2018 Hockey World Cup, which will also take place in Bhubaneswar.