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“And if you’re someone that wants to be left alone or works well in isolation, there certainly is the opportunity to do that,” the police chief said. “So yes, you can make a whole bunch of money in a very short period of time if that’s what you want to do, and you can do it in relative anonymity.”

Like most Canadian cities, Edmonton is experiencing a growing radicalization problem, the chief said. But as the gateway to the resource-rich north it is also dealing with extremists arriving from out-of-province in the hope of making fast money. “We do see folks that are coming in here and they can make the money very easily and very quickly,” he said.

Would-be jihadists need money for plane tickets and are sometimes required to buy their own weapons upon arrival in war zones. In many cases, they must also be able to sustain themselves without an income for months at a time.

A 15-year-old was charged in December with holding up a Montreal convenience store with a knife to finance joining a Middle East terrorist group. He made off with $2,000. He told police he believed it was a sin to live in Canada since it is not governed by Islamic law.

But several others with the same intentions have instead ventured to northern Alberta. Mohammed Ali, of Mississauga, Ont., has boasted online about earning a large salary in the Western oil fields before leaving to join ISIS. Zehaf-Bibeau had also worked in the Alberta oil patch before attempting to travel abroad.