Mustafa al-Gharib, 22, was executed by the Free Syrian Army forces amid rebel infighting, after being injured in battle and captured by an unknown FSA faction in the city of Aleppo, Canada's public broadcaster reported yesterday.
Citing unnamed sources in Syria and Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said he had joined Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group consisting of largely foreign fighters.
A Canadian Foreign Affairs Department spokesman told AFP: "We are aware of reports that Canadians have been killed in Syria. We are following the situation closely."
Born Damian Clairmont in Canada's Atlantic coast province Nova Scotia, al-Gharib moved with his Acadian family to Calgary in Western Canada at a young age.
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After his parents split up, he reportedly dropped out of school and tried to kill himself by drinking antifreeze before converting to Islam and leaving for Syria in late 2012.
The daily National Post cited his mother as saying Canada's spy service had been investigating al-Gharib.
The CBC said more than 100 Canadian nationals may be fighting in Syria.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told reporters that al-Gharib's death did not "come as a surprise" and that "there is probably more than one Canadian that is fighting with the opposition.