A recent federal security task force report revealed that foreign interference activities during the latest general election were characterized as “limited” and often challenging to attribute to a foreign entity. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force, comprising members from Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the RCMP, and the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency, monitored potential threats.
A protocol empowered a group of senior government officials to alert the public if any incidents jeopardized Canada’s ability to conduct a fair election during the campaign. No such warnings were issued during the 2025 election, which resulted in the election of a minority Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The panel of officials, known as the “panel of five,” including key government figures, received regular updates from the security task force throughout the election period. The task force’s subsequent report revealed observations of transnational repression attempts, notably by Chinese entities. It highlighted efforts by China-associated groups to disseminate conflicting narratives about political candidates on various Chinese-language social media platforms in Canada.
Moreover, the report identified Russian involvement in online foreign information manipulation and interference activities. The task force also documented instances where politicians’ identities were exploited to promote cryptocurrency and financial scams. The panel was briefed on these occurrences and guided action by the task force.
To keep Canadians informed, the task force conducted weekly technical briefings for the media during the election campaign. The task force’s report was part of a comprehensive government summary on the election released recently. The document emphasized the need for continuous vigilance in safeguarding electoral integrity and drew attention to the importance of learning from past experiences to enhance democratic processes under evolving challenges.
