Radical and extreme ecosystems

The Chair has set up a permanent monitoring team of a dozen part-time student employees to develop its capacity for observation, data collection, and qualitative analysis within extremist and radical ecosystems and to meet its student training objectives. This monitoring team produces weekly briefing notes and monthly presentations to ministerial partners to inform them of current developments of interest to their departments.

In addition, the Chair is conducting a project to analyze online content related to radicalization and extremism on social media in Quebec and Canada. It focuses in particular on:

1) Identifying international influences (e.g., France) in the dissemination of extremist ideas;

2) The typology of extremist ideologies (radical right and left) circulating in Canada;

3) Analyzing the primary sources of disinformation and the organic dissemination of extremist content.

The project contributes to strengthening analytical capacities, mobilizing knowledge, and developing tools for detecting potentially viral extremist incidents.

This project is in partnership with McGill University and the Media Ecosystem Observatory ($49,752.96).

Digital tools are increasingly being used to carry out attacks with limited resources (fundraising, recruiting fighters, or using cyberspace to spread violent and hateful ideas). What manipulation techniques are used in jihadist propaganda? And how can this threat be combated? This project aims to study and analyze the information infrastructure of jihadist groups, their online presence and communications, as well as the propaganda designed to recruit fighters abroad, and the risks that this online presence poses to the national security of Western countries.

The beginning of Donald Trump’s second term has been marked by the confirmation of pre-existing trends in terms of links between the American and Canadian radical right-wing ecosystems, namely the rapprochement between various trends and several influencers. In addition, the rhetoric of the 51st state has also deepened some of these ties and the dialogue between these two ecosystems. This project therefore aims to understand the development of ties between these ecosystems and the impact on the spread of disinformation, as well as the form of these narratives. Furthermore, it also aims to understand how they contribute to the revitalization, both online and offline, of radical and extremist groups, and the threat that these groups may ultimately pose, particularly in terms of cross-border cooperation, the production of disinformation, and violent actions.

The Chair seeks to develop a better understanding of left-wing extremist movements in Quebec and Canada. To this end, the objectives of this research are to:

1) Map the actors and networks that make up the radical left ecosystem in Canada;

2) Create a typology of the ideologies and discourses that characterize it;

3) Understand the trajectories and factors of radicalization of its activists;

4) Analyze their relationship to violence (legitimization, opposition, use, etc.);

5) Analyze the communication strategies used by actors on the radical left. This project is a partnership and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ($280,000).

The radical right-wing and anti-authority ecosystem will continue to be researched given its current importance. The Chair is preparing a report on the evolution of this ecosystem four years after the official end of the pandemic. This project will seek to understand the restructuring of this ecosystem into a reactionary right-wing ecosystem and analyze the place of the pandemic in its discourse.

Project title: “THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONSPIRACY MOVEMENT IN CANADA AFTER THE PANDEMIC”

In the wake of the pandemic and the lifting of health measures, this project aims to analyze the evolution of the so-called “conspiracy” movement in Canada and Quebec over the past few years. Now that the pandemic is over and health measures have been lifted, how has this ecosystem evolved? Previous studies have shown that the leaders of this movement come from a variety of backgrounds: far right (45%), alternative science (27%), anti-government (20%), religious/spiritual (4%), and QAnon (4%), operating via digital platforms to coordinate and organize actions (Carignan et al., 2022). The convergence of ideologically diverse actors gave rise to a protest ecosystem centered on challenging health measures. This convergence of actors with varied ideological profiles was one of the distinctive features of this movement, often highlighted by researchers (Farahmand et al. 2024; Meintel 2022; Morin et al. 2025; Geoffroy et al. 2022; Tanner and Campana 2022; Tremblay and Colin 2024). This project has three main objectives:

1. Analyze the reorganization of these ecosystems: Examine whether conspiracy theories remain central, assess current ideological trends, the persistence of alliances, and the influence of key actors.

2. Identify the possible emergence of new themes and issues: Identify the emergence of new themes, adversaries, or targets in conspiracy discourse.

3. Measure adherence among the population: Analyze the spread of radical discourse in the public sphere and the positions of “ordinary” citizens toward these ideologies.

This project is in partnership with McGill University’s Media Ecosystem Observatory and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Knowledge Development) ($67,432).