Protecting Canada’s general elections

Monitoring by security and intelligence agencies

Canada’s security and intelligence organizations are at the front line of Canada’s efforts to combat foreign interference campaigns against our democratic institutions. They work to prevent covert, clandestine, or criminal activities by foreign actors from interfering in our electoral processes.

Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force

Here is what each agency does to protect the general elections from potential threats.

Communications Security Establishment (CSE) protects elections by providing foreign intelligence about the intentions, capabilities and activities of foreign-based threat actors, defending Canada’s federal elections infrastructure from malicious cyber activity, proactively helping democratic institutions improve their cyber security, and sharing unclassified threat assessments and information to make Canadians more aware of mis- and disinformation.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) plays a key role in Government efforts against foreign interference. CSIS investigates threats, provides advice and, as necessary, may take measures to reduce threats to Canada’s security including those orchestrated by foreign states. CSIS also engages with Canadian communities to better understand how threats against Canada’s democratic institutions impact communities and how the Government can better counter these threats.

Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) Canada monitors the digital information environment for foreign state-sponsored disinformation. This includes acting as an early warning system for the SITE Task Force during general election cycles. RRM Canada provides open-source data analytics about threats to democracy. It leverages the RRM network for information exchange and potential response.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) plays an important role by investigating criminal offences, including those related to foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions and processes, cyber-crime, terrorism, as well as threats, intimidation, and harassment against public officials. The RCMP works closely with law enforcement and security partners to prevent and detect crime and have an open channel of communication with communities who may be targeted by foreign interference.

Ongoing and transparent communications

Canada recognizes the value of open communication about incidents of foreign information manipulation and interference, to raise citizen awareness, build citizen resilience, and maintain trust in electoral outcomes. Here are the different ways the Government informs Canadians of these threats.

Critical Election Incident Public Protocol

During the federal general election period, the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol (the Protocol) establishes the process through which Canadians would be notified of an incident, or an accumulation of separate incidents, which threatens the integrity of the federal election process. The Protocol is limited to incidents that fall within the caretaker period and that do not fall within Elections Canada’s mandate.

The Protocol is administered by the Panel who, working with the national security agencies, are responsible for jointly determining whether the threshold for informing Canadians of an incident has been met, either through a single incident or an accumulation of incidents.

During the election period, the Panel is briefed regularly by the SITE Task Force. A public announcement during the caretaker period would occur only if the Panel determines that an incident or an accumulation of incidents has occurred that threatens Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.

Regular technical briefings

During the election period, the Government of Canada communicated regularly with Canadians about the election threat landscape, through regular technical briefings. The briefings were an opportunity to share unclassified information on incidents or trends that the SITE Task Force is monitoring.

Political party briefings

The SITE Task Force provides enhanced monitoring and assessment of foreign interference threats during the general election period. Part of the SITE Task Force’s work is to provide classified threat briefings to cleared political party leadership to help them to strengthen their internal security practices, and to build their awareness of foreign-influenced activities in Canada.

Reporting on the threat landscape

Over the last few years, Canada’s national security agencies have issued public reports to raise awareness about the nature of the foreign interference threat in Canada. Such reports have been made publicly available since 2017:

• The Cyber Centre’s reports on cyber threats to Canada’s democratic process aim to inform Canadians about the global trends in cyber threat activity targeting national elections and the likelihood of threat actors using those tactics to target Canada. The latest edition of the report is now available: Cyber Threats to Canada's Democratic Process: 2025 Update. 
• During the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers meeting in London, foreign ministers committed the G7 RRM to producing annual reports. The reports highlight different aspects of the evolving threat landscape. At the request of G7 foreign ministers, the 2021 annual report focused on disinformation as an increasingly prominent aspect of foreign interference.
• The Foreign Interference and You report provides information on foreign interference, the targets of hostile state actors, as well as what individuals and organizations can do to mitigate the threat.

Updating laws to further safeguard elections

Legislation plays a vital role in safeguarding citizens and ensuring the integrity of elections. The Government has implemented legislation to uphold these principles and is actively developing new measures to strengthen election integrity even further. 

Countering Foreign Interference Act

Receiving royal assent in June 2024, the Act respecting countering foreign interference strengthens Canada’s ability to detect, disrupt and counter foreign interference, particularly targeting threats to diaspora communities and democratic processes.

It introduces amendments to national security and criminal laws, including the Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act. This includes creating new foreign interference offences to better address foreign interference risks to Canada and to ensure that hostile activities are fully addressed by the criminal law, including those involving deceptive or surreptitious acts that undermine democratic processes (including foreign interference in nomination contests and federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments or democratic processes). An example of such an act would be covertly influencing the outcomes of political processes, such as the nomination of a candidate.

Strengthening civil society’s resilience against threats to democracy

The best defence against threats to elections, including disinformation and foreign interference, is making sure Canadians are resilient, meaning they can identify and resist these threats. Building this resilience involves making sure people have access to reliable and factual information, as well as the tools to combat these threats. Amendments to the CSIS Act in the Countering Foreign Interference Act authorize CSIS to disclose information to Canadians for the purposes of building resiliency to threats to the security of Canada including foreign interference.

Building a healthy information ecosystem

The Government, through funding and other support, has helped Canadian research and civil society organizations who are working to promote a healthy information ecosystem and help Canadians and the Government understand online disinformation and its impact on Canadian society:

• Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI): Led by Canadian Heritage, this initiative supports the goal of building a base of evidence to identify potential action and develop future policy. Programs under the DCI aim to support democracy and social inclusion in Canada by enhancing and supporting efforts to counter online disinformation and other online threats.

Protecting information integrity online

Defending general elections against interference requires a united and sustained effort from government, the private sector, civil society, and citizens. That is why the Government of Canada issued a Statement of Canadian Democratic Principles, which calls on all of Canadian society to take action to help protect information integrity online during a general election.

Tools for Canadians

As part of efforts to ensure the resilience of Canada’s democracy to new and evolving threats, a number of tools and resources are available to help Canadians identify, and become more resilient to disinformation and foreign interference.

This includes a fact sheet on resisting disinformation during an election and  a series of toolkits designed to help people identify and become more resilient to disinformation and foreign interference. The toolkits are tailored to the realities of elected officials and public office holders, public servants, and community leaders, and are available in 11 languages to help support diaspora groups. The toolkits are part of a suite of measures to help ensure the resilience of Canada’s democracy to new and evolving threats.

You can also visit the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security website to learn more about cyber threats to elections. Here you will find information on how to protect your online data from cyber threats, as well as guidance for political parties, voters, election authorities and vendors to help mitigate the impacts of cyber threats to elections.

Protecting voters and candidates

Ensuring the safety of voters and candidates is critical to maintaining the integrity of elections and the democratic process. A secure environment empowers citizens to make choices and candidates to campaign freely, unimpeded by coercion or violence. This reinforces the principles of fairness and equality essential to a thriving democracy.

Protecting voters

Voters, particularly those in diaspora communities or involved in other types of communities and groups, may be targeted by foreign actors to either overtly or covertly influence the way they vote. 

Foreign states can leverage hostile activities to advance their strategic interests including seeking geopolitical influence, economic advancement, revision of the rules-based international order, and domestic stability. These activities can range from harassment and intimidation to direct threats against you or your loved ones.

It is important for all individuals and groups living in Canada, regardless of their nationality and eligibility to vote in federal elections, to know that there are support mechanisms in place to help you when experiencing potential foreign interference or state-backed harassment and intimidation.

The RCMP and police of jurisdiction provide outreach and engagement to groups who may be at a higher risk of being targeted and will work together to maintain situational awareness of any threats targeting voters.

The public can play an important role by remaining vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity or information to their local police. Anyone who feels threatened online or in person, should report these incidents to their local police. If there is ever fear of an immediate threat, please call 9-1-1 immediately.

Protecting candidates

Election candidates could be targets of either cyber or physical threats during an election campaign. This can stem from foreign state actors who are trying to interfere in the election, or from those who might not agree with the candidate’s platform. If you are the target of a physical threat, contact your local police of jurisdiction.

Hoax threats, for example, is a method used to target the general election, public officials, and sites or events associated with an election. Find more information about hoax threats and how candidates can protect themselves from it.

Following the onset of the 45th General Election, the Government of Canada introduced a candidate security program to enhance the security posture of candidates on an as and when required basis. Through this program, election candidates could request close protection and/or residential security services through the Government of Canada.

It is also important for candidates to be informed of the election threat environment. Ahead of the general election, the SITE Task Force provided general briefings on foreign interference to security-cleared representatives of political parties represented in the House of Commons to help educate, increase awareness, and open two-way communication between SITE and the political parties. These briefings were to identify the tactics used by actors that engage in foreign interference, specific issues or trends, and how to protect against threats.

For more information and guidance on personal and campaign safety, candidates can refer to Protecting candidates during the electoral process.