A 17-year-old Edmonton-area youth is in custody facing charges for allegedly trying to leave Canada to join the Islamic State terrorist group.

The teen, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested without incident by the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement team in Beaumont on Thursday and then denied bail by a justice of the peace.

In a statement from the RCMP in Ottawa, the Mounties say their focus "remained on the safety and protection of the public" throughout the investigation.

"While it may be difficult for parents to come forward to the police, it is important for families and communities to contact police as soon as they suspect that an individual is being radicalized," says the statement.

"While early intervention is our primary approach, after assessment, arrests and charges may be the only option in the interest of public safety. This also ensures that the individual has access to necessary support and assessment services."

According to Alberta Justice, the teen is facing two charges of conveying terrorist activity.

The first charge says that on or about March 8, at or near Beaumont, Edmonton, Calgary and elsewhere, the youth did attempt to leave Canada to participate in an activity of a terrorist group, Islamic State.

The second charge states that on the same date at or near the same places, the youth did, without lawful excuse, attempt to leave Canada for the purpose of committing an act outside of Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence, namely murder, in circumstances that constitute terrorist activities.

Alberta Justice says the teen was denied bail to ensure his future appearance in court and to ensure the safety and protection of the public. He was also denied release on the finding that the young person is charged with a serious offence and there are exceptional circumstances that warrant detention.

He is slated to appear in Edmonton's Youth Court on April 9.

Three weeks ago, Edmonton city police held a press conference to stress that the best weapon to fight radicalization of citizens is community engagement. The message was prompted by allegations that an Edmonton-based woman has allegedly been recruiting online for ISIS. City police Insp. Dan Jones with the investigative support branch said recruiting for terrorist organizations is no different than gangs.

"People go into things for all kind of different reasons. It's about making people feel like they belong in different realms," said Jones then, adding it's important police are notified about people becoming radicalized at an early stage. "My concern always when it comes to any of these types of things is people holding onto information prior to getting it to the police and I think that is something we have to rectify -- sometimes the longer we wait, the more things happen and then we fail. We can't afford to fail here. We need to support each other and we need to do this as a whole community."

The number one focus, said Jones, is engagement with youth, school resources and community partners.

"Our strongest weapon against anything like this lies with the community and with our partnerships," said Jones. "This isn't a race or religion issue. This is a terrorism or criminal behaviour issue. That's our key messaging we want to give out right now."

In October, ﻿six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets took off from CFB Cold Lake for Iraq as part of the air combat mission, dubbed Operation IMPACT, to fight ISIS. Coalition air strikes are targeting IS, ISIL or ISIS, which currently control swaths of eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq. The air combat mission aims to degrade ISIS's ability to carry out military operations against the people of the Republic of Iraq.