A published report says Canadian fighter pilots have been accused of killing civilians in a January airstrike in Iraq, though official statements gave no indication of the allegation.

The Canadian Armed Forces told The Globe and Mail that they have found no evidence to support the allegation, but encourage anyone with information to come forward.

The military tells the newspaper that the accusation was made by someone who "heard of these potential casualties through a second-hand account."

The Globe pointed out that Defence Minister Jason Kenney told reporters in early August that the government was "not aware of any claims of civilian casualties as a result of the RCAF bombing in Iraq and Syria."

The report also quoted military spokesman Paul Forget, a naval captain, as saying on July 9: "Canada is quite confident that with all the strikes that we've executed, there is absolutely no evidence of civilian casualties associated with our strikes."

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, whose party opposed the decision to send fighter jets to target Islamic State fighters, said the fact the allegations are only coming to light now is further evidence of the Conservatives' secrecy.

"These are very serious allegations but we need to know more about them," Trudeau said Friday morning during a campaign stop in Montreal, the Star's Bruce Campion-Smith reports.

"One of the things that has been consistent from this government has been a lack of openness and transparency, even on issues as important as our engagements around the world with Canadian military forces," the Liberal leader said.

"We owe Canadians, anytime a government sends our forces into harm's way, to be open and transparent with Canadians. We've seen yet again a government that is more focused on secrecy and spin than it is on telling the truth to Canadians. This is yet another example of why Canadians no longer trust this prime minister to tell them the truth," he said.

Canada's CF-18 Hornets have been involved since November in a U.S.-led air bombing campaign to help Iraqi troops reclaim ground captured by extremists.

Canadian fighter aircraft also began airstrikes in Syria in April.