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The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) says various evolving forms of violent extremism are becoming increasingly difficult to address and even understand, with secret and anonymous online radicalization challenging investigators’ ability to keep pace.
The agency’s annual report released Friday said violent extremism “continues to pose a significant threat to Canada’s national security and remains a critical operational priority for CSIS,” noting such extremism is “motivated by an increasingly diverse range of beliefs and convictions.”
Those sometimes conflicting beliefs create what CSIS calls a “salad bar” of motivating grievances — particularly in the ideologically-motivated violent extremism landscape, which the agency says is “complex, diverse, chaotic, and constantly evolving, which challenges our understanding of the national security threat.”
But it says other, emerging forms of extremism are further muddying the picture as radicalizing content proliferates online.
“Numerous factors, including the availability of violent extremist-created content on the internet, personalized and hybridized worldviews, and domestic and international events have contributed to create an environment where more Canadians are radicalizing and mobilizing to violence,” the report says.
Of particular concern is the threat of religiously motivated violent extremism, which CSIS says has “increased significantly” since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that sparked the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The agency said at least seven priority investigations in 2025 involving mobilization to violence cited the conflict as a motivating factor.
The report acknowledges an ongoing rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia that has included hate-motivated crimes and threats. However, it noted CSIS did not observe any violent extremist plots targeting the Muslim community last year, while multiple plots against Jewish people were foiled.
Another concern has been the rise in what CSIS calls “nihilistic violent extremism,” which “promotes the belief that life lacks inherent meaning or purpose.” The goal of its followers, who are frequently youth and young adults, “is to engage in violent chaos.”
The agency’s annual report released Friday said violent extremism “continues to pose a significant threat to Canada’s national security and remains a critical operational priority for CSIS,” noting such extremism is “motivated by an increasingly diverse range of beliefs and convictions.”
Those sometimes conflicting beliefs create what CSIS calls a “salad bar” of motivating grievances — particularly in the ideologically-motivated violent extremism landscape, which the agency says is “complex, diverse, chaotic, and constantly evolving, which challenges our understanding of the national security threat.”
But it says other, emerging forms of extremism are further muddying the picture as radicalizing content proliferates online.
“Numerous factors, including the availability of violent extremist-created content on the internet, personalized and hybridized worldviews, and domestic and international events have contributed to create an environment where more Canadians are radicalizing and mobilizing to violence,” the report says.
Of particular concern is the threat of religiously motivated violent extremism, which CSIS says has “increased significantly” since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that sparked the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The agency said at least seven priority investigations in 2025 involving mobilization to violence cited the conflict as a motivating factor.
The report acknowledges an ongoing rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia that has included hate-motivated crimes and threats. However, it noted CSIS did not observe any violent extremist plots targeting the Muslim community last year, while multiple plots against Jewish people were foiled.
Another concern has been the rise in what CSIS calls “nihilistic violent extremism,” which “promotes the belief that life lacks inherent meaning or purpose.” The goal of its followers, who are frequently youth and young adults, “is to engage in violent chaos.”
