Protecting Canada’s general elections

Ongoing and transparent communications

Open communication builds trust and equips Canadians to identify threats to electoral integrity, such as disinformation. Here’s how the Government of Canada keeps Canadians informed.

Government’s Coordinated Response to Threats to Elections (CRTE)

During the caretaker period, the CRTE establishes the process through which the Panel coordinates a whole-of-government response, subject to departments’ and agencies’ authorities and mandates. This includes informing Canadians of incidents, or an accumulation of separate incidents, that could threaten the integrity of the federal election process. The CRTE is limited to the caretaker period and to incidents outside Elections Canada’s mandate.

The CRTE is administered by the Panel who, working with the national security agencies, are responsible for jointly determining whether the threshold has been met for informing Canadians of a single incident or an accumulation of incidents. Canada’s approach ensures transparency without interfering in the election process.

During the caretaker period, the Panel is briefed by the SITE Task Force, civil society organizations as well as academic researchers. A public announcement by the Panel during the caretaker period will occur only if the Panel determines that an incident or an accumulation of incidents threaten Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.

How Panel members prepare for a General Election

Ahead of a general election, the Panel meets regularly to:

• Explore all available tools and strategies for addressing incidents, beyond a public announcement.
• Hold briefings with individual Panel members.
• Hold briefings with civil society organizations and international partners.
• Engage with the Chief Electoral Officer and Commissioner of Canada Elections.

Regular updates on the threat landscape

During the election period, the Government of Canada holds regular technical briefings to update Canadians on incidents or trends that could impact electoral security.

Political party briefings

The SITE Task Force provides classified threat briefings to cleared political party leadership during elections. These sessions help parties to:

• Strengthen their internal security practices.
• Build their awareness of foreign influence activities in Canada.

Public reporting

Canada’s national security agencies issue public reports to raise awareness of the nature of the foreign interference threat, including:

• The Cyber Centre’s reports on cyber threats to Canada’s democratic process, which aims to inform Canadians about global trends in cyber threat activity targeting national elections. The latest edition of the report is now available: Cyber Threats to Canada's Democratic Process: 2025 Update.
• G7 RRM annual reports, which cover global disinformation trends.
• The Foreign Interference and You report, which provides information on foreign interference, the targets of hostile state actors, as well as what individuals and organizations can do to mitigate the threat.
• The Panel Retrospective Report contributes to improving the way in which the government administers the CRTE and supports improvements to the tools used to combat foreign interference in Canada’s electoral processes.

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 monitor and address threats such as covert, clandestine, or criminal activities by foreign actors from interfering in our electoral processes.

Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force

How the SITE Task Force Prepares for a General Election

Before a federal general election or by-election, the SITE Task Force performs key activities to ensure readiness, including:

• Holding regular strategy and intelligence-sharing meetings across all participating agencies.
• Running simulation exercises to prepare for various scenarios during the election period.
• Providing intelligence briefings to political parties to identify risks and strengthen their internal security practices.
• Producing intelligence threat assessments to share with the government and the public to prepare for and defend against foreign interference risks.

Learn more about the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force.

Updating laws to further safeguard elections

Legislation plays a vital role in safeguarding citizens and ensuring the integrity of elections.

Countering Foreign Interference Act

In June 2024, Canada passed An Act respecting countering foreign interference to strengthen Canada’s ability to detect, disrupt and combat foreign interference, particularly targeting threats to diaspora communities and democratic processes. The legislation:

• Introduced criminal penalties for foreign-influence activities that undermine democratic processes, such as covertly influencing political candidate nominations.
• Strengthens protections for at-risk communities.
• Authorizes CSIS to disclose information to Canadians for the purposes of building resiliency to threats to the security of Canada including foreign interference.

Strengthening civil society’s resilience against threats to democracy

Civil society plays a critical role in resisting disinformation and interference. The Government of Canada works to strengthen resilience by providing resources, building partnerships, and ensuring Canadians can access reliable and factual information.

Building a healthy information ecosystem

The Government, through funding and other support, has helped Canadian research and civil society organizations who work 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 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, public office holders, public servants, and community leaders, and are available in 11 languages. The toolkits are part of a suite of measures to help ensure the resilience of Canada’s democracy to new and evolving threats.

The Canada School of Public Service has developed a two-part free online course, available to members of the public, to help identify and combatting misinformation and disinformation: Untangling Misinformation and Disinformation (TRN506-EN) and Untangling Misinformation and Disinformation at Work (TRN507-EN).

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 community groups, may be targeted by foreign actors in an effort to overtly or covertly influence the way they vote.

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

All individuals and groups living in Canada, regardless of their nationality and eligibility to vote in federal elections, must be aware of the support in place to help 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 plays 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.

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 candidates are the target of a physical threat, contact your local police of jurisdiction or 9-1-1.

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

It is also important for candidates to be informed of the election threat environment. Ahead of a general election, the SITE Task Force provides 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 identify 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.

Did you know?

Elections Canada also has a role in protecting Canada’s general elections. Elections Canada administers federal elections with various integrity safeguards before, during and after an election. These safeguards are present at every stage of the electoral process:

• voter registration
• voting
• counting votes and reporting results
• political financing, spending and advertising
• emergencies and incidents

Visit Elections Canada’s election integrity and security page to learn more.