India, China could try to interfere in elections, Russia and Pakistan have potential to, claims Canada’s spy agency

India and China are likely to try to interfere in Canada’s upcoming general elections, country’s spy agency Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has claimed, according to a Reuters report.

Russia and Pakistan could potentially conduct foreign interference activities against Canada, the report added on Monday. Canada’s general elections are scheduled for April 28.

The Canadian spy agency made its comments at a time when Ottawa’s relations with both India and China are chilly. Beijing and New Delhi have denied previous allegations of interference.

‘Hostile state actors’

According to the report, Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director of operations at CSIS, told a press conference that hostile state actors were increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to meddle in elections.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is highly likely to use AI enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada’s democratic process in this current election,” she said.

“We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes,” said Lloyd.

“It’s often very difficult to establish a direct link between foreign interference activities and election results … Nevertheless, threat activities can erode public trust in the integrity of Canada’s democratic processes and institutions,” she said.

An official probe report released in January claimed that Canada was slow to respond to interference attempts by China and India during the 2019 and 2021 elections, although the meddling did not affect the outcomes.

The Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa have not yet responded to Canada’s allegations.

Canada’s strained relationship with India, China

Canada last year expelled six Indian diplomats – including the head of mission – over allegations they were involved in a plot against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.

In October 2024, then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused India of being involved in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and a prominent Sikh separatist leader, in British Columbia.

India had denied its involvement, and in response to Canada expelling its diplomats, expelled senior Canadian diplomats. The situation further escalated when demonstrations near a Hindu temple in Ontario were dispersed by the Canadian police after weapons were reportedly spotted at the demonstration.

Earlier this month Beijing announced tariffs on more than $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, retaliating against levies Ottawa slapped on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products last year.

Canada said last week that China had executed four Canadian citizens on drug smuggling charges, and strongly condemned Beijing’s use of the death penalty.

Snap elections in Canada

Canadians are headed to the polls for a vote unlike any other in the country’s recent history. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau earlier this month, has called snap elections for April 28.

Carney had cited the need for a strong mandate to address the challenges posed by US President Donald Trump while calling for snap elections.

Canada currently has retaliatory tariffs in place on C$30 billion ($20.8 billion) worth of US imports to the country, and has threatened to hit another C$125 billion worth of US goods. In his acceptance speech Sunday night, Carney said he would not remove Canada’s existing retaliatory measures until Trump removes the threat of tariffs and commits to free trade with Canada.

(With inputs from agencies)