Youth radicalization rising in Canada: Canadian Security Intelligence Service report

CSIS says an alarming number of youth are being radicalized and influenced by terrorism in online communities. Jeremie Charron reports.

A new report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has brought to light alarming data about youth radicalization in Canada.

According to CSIS’s year-end report for 2025, a growing number of young people — some as young as 13 — are the subject of the agency’s counter-terrorism investigations. In fact, nearly one in 10 CSIS investigations now includes at least one person under the age of 18.

“CSIS counter-terrorism investigations regularly encounter minors mobilizing to violence,” the report said.

A former CSIS intelligence officer says the trend is not unexpected, but remains concerning.

“Is it surprising? No. Is it alarming? Yes,” said Neil Bisson in an interview with CTV News. “The internet and digital media and the interconnectivity of everything now, it’s becoming a target.”

Bisson said vulnerable and impressionable youth are being targeted online.

“Younger and younger people are using or being involved in terrorist-related activity because of what they’re seeing, what they’re ingesting and who they’re communicating with online,” he said.

The CSIS report cites young people’s access to ideologically motivated and religiously motivated violent extremism (RMVE) content as a reason for this trend.

“The main challenge of RMVE youth radicalization is determining which teen engaging with terrorist materials and violent content online is a genuine threat and could mobilize to violence,” the report said.

Experts say part of that challenge lies in the online spaces where youth are spending time.

“You have social media, encrypted messaging, online gaming platforms — these are all platforms that can connect directly with kids and be exploited,” said Ritesh Kotak, a cybersecurity and tech analyst based in Toronto.

Kotak suggests regulatory measures could help force online platforms to comply with legislation, but he says the platforms themselves could be doing more, too.

“I don’t think they’re doing enough when it comes to protecting youth and ensuring the content on their platforms is safe,” he said.

According to the report, five minors were arrested in 2023, two in 2024, and four in 2025 as a result of counter-terrorism investigations.

Meanwhile, just weeks ago, in an Ottawa courtroom, a youth was found guilty of terrorism charges involving Islamic State-inspired plans to attack Jewish people.