Canada has for the first time named India in a list of cyber threat adversaries, suggesting that state-sponsored actors may be spying on it.

Amid an ongoing diplomatic standoff, India is named fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the 2025-26 National Cyber ​​Threat Assessment (NCTA 2025-26) report.

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors are likely conducting cyber threat activities against Canadian government networks for the purpose of espionage,” the report said.

The development comes as the bilateral relationship has soured since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that Indian government agents were involved in the June 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. , a charge dismissed as absurd by India.

NCTA 2025-2026, which highlights the cyber threats facing individuals and organizations in Canada, was released on October 30 by the Canadian Cyber ​​Security Center (Cyber ​​​​Centre), which is Canada’s technical authority on cyber security and part of Communications Security Establishment Canada. (CSE).

While India was not mentioned in the 2018, 2020 and 2023-24 National Cyber ​​Threat Assessment reports, the 2025-26 assessment lists India – along with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – in the “cyber threat from state adversaries “. ‘ section that presents the state cyber threat ecosystem and discusses cyber threats to Canada.

“India’s leadership almost certainly aspires to build a modernized cyber program with domestic cyber capabilities. India is very likely using its cyber program to advance its national security imperatives, including espionage, counter-terrorism, and the country’s efforts to promote its global standing and counter narratives against India and the Indian government,” the assessment report said.

“We assess that India’s cyber program is likely using commercial cyber providers to enhance its operations. We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors are likely conducting cyber threat activities against Government of Canada networks for espionage purposes,” it further said.

“We believe that formal bilateral relations between Canada and India are very likely to foster Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activities against Canada,” it claims.

The CSE and its Canadian and Five Eyes partners are attuned to cyber threats to Canada from state and non-state cyber threat actors and are monitoring them as they evolve, the report said.

NCTA 2025-2026 provides the Canadian public with the CSE’s current information on state and non-state cyber threat actors conducting malicious cyber threat activities against Canada and how we assess the cyber threat landscape will evolve over the next two years, it added .