China, Russia and Iran will “very likely” use artificial intelligence to try and disrupt Canada’s next federal election, a new assessment from the Communications Security Establishment Canada says, but are unlikely to undermine the overall integrity of the vote.

The annual report on cyber threats to Canadian democracy, released Thursday, said cybercriminals linked to those countries will most likely use generative AI tools and methods like deepfakes to spread disinformation “designed to sow division among Canadians and push narratives conducive to the interests of foreign states.”

Canadian politicians and political parties will likely be targeted with phishing scams and hack-and-leak operations to further sow discord, the report said.

“We assess that the PRC, Russia, and Iran will very likely use AI-enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada’s democratic process before and during the 2025 election,” the report from the CSE and its Canadian Centre for Cyber Security says, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

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