We present a perturbation analysis of the canonical correlations of ma
trix pairs. Absolute perturbation bounds for normwise as well as compo
nentwise perturbations are derived. We demonstrate by way of examples
that small relative perturbation of a matrix pair does not necessarily
imply small relative perturbation in its canonical correlations, and
we identify a class of matrix pairs for which good relative perturbati
on bounds can be derived under certain conditions.