Most candidates who ran in Canada’s 2025 general election believe foreign actors attempted to manipulate voters, while nearly half suspect illegal foreign money flowed into the campaign, according to internal Elections Canada research.Blacklock's Reporter says a post-election Survey of Candidates for the 45th General Election found widespread concern among those who sought office about election integrity, particularly online disinformation and foreign interference. The report said 76% of respondents viewed the spread of false information online as a problem, while 65% believed foreign countries or groups used social media and other tools to influence Canadians’ political views.Concerns extended beyond messaging. Almost half of surveyed candidates, 49%, said they believed foreign money was used to influence Canadian politics, and an equal share thought foreign actors interfered in the selection of candidates by political parties.The findings were based on questionnaires completed by 837 candidates. Party affiliations were not disclosed. Elections Canada paid $68,517 for the research, conducted by Léger Marketing Inc..When asked directly whether foreign countries or groups interfered with or influenced political opinions during the election, 65% answered yes. Nearly half also said they believed foreign funding played a role.The survey followed a turbulent campaign marked by high-profile disqualifications and security warnings. During the writ period, the Liberal Party barred four former caucus members from running: Chandra Arya in Nepean, Paul Chiang in Markham–Unionville, Ruby Dhalla in Brampton–Springdale, and Han Dong in Don Valley North.It also came after an RCMP advisory led podcaster Joseph Tay to suspend his Conservative campaign in Don Valley North after he was targeted online by agents linked to the Chinese Communist Party. At the time, Privy Council Office official Laurie-Anne Kempton warned that “malign actors go to great lengths to hide traces of their role in foreign interference activities.”Broader concerns about foreign meddling were reinforced by earlier findings from the Commission on Foreign Interference, which in 2023 revealed a secret CSIS memo alleging $250,000 in Communist Party payments to “pro-China” public office holders.“Until foreign interference is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond, these threats will persist,” said a Feb. 21, 2023 briefing to the Prime Minister’s Office on foreign interference threats to Canada’s democratic institutions.
