Ali Omar Ader had been in Ottawa for "a few days" before he was taken into custody by Royal Canadian Mounted Police national security unit.
Several Canadian agencies, as well as Australian federal police, were involved in the investigation that the RCMP said, "required the deployment of a number of investigative techniques over a long period of time."
Ader is accused of involvement in the hostage negotiations that led to the November 2009 release of freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan.