Canada's fight against Islamic State extremism is an old problem taking new form, according to the project leader behind a new, publicly available Canadian terror database.

James Ellis, project leader for the Canadian Incident Database, says there have been about 1,800 terror threats involving Canada in the last 54 years, but most citizens tend to forget about old threats when new ones arise. He says his new database is meant to keep terrorism in perspective by showing how specific incidents fit into the larger context of Canadian history.

"This is something that Canada has dealt with over the years," Ellis told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday. "We just often forget that these campaigns are separated."

Ellis was brought in to lead the Canadian project after managing the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in the United States for the last eight years.

His Canadian Incident Database catalogues every Canada-related incident of terror on home soil or involving citizens abroad from the last 55 years, in collaboration with Carleton University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Waterloo and the University of Montreal.

"It gives a fuller, more comprehensive picture of how terrorism has touched Canada both at home and abroad," Ellis said.

The database includes about 10 times the number of incidents than recorded in other, international databases. Ellis says his team tried to be as comprehensive as possible by including small-scale plots, hoaxes and international incidents where Canadians were the perpetrators.

He says terrorism is not isolated to any one cause, religion or political movement in history. Rather, it's an "ongoing problem" that is "not monopolized by any one group."

Ellis said there have been several flare-ups of terrorist activity over the years, including a mostly forgotten series of attacks by a group called the Sons of Freedom in 1960.

"This was primarily a rural movement that was aiming to prevent their children from being taken into public education," he said. Ellis says there were about 100 arsons, bombings and violent attacks involving the group, "but most people aren't familiar with it."

There was also a flurry of activity in the late 1960s from the separatist group called the Front de liberation du Quebec, in the build-up to the October crisis of 1970.

Ellis says the tool is also useful for tracking Canada's reaction to terrorism over the years.

"It give you a better picture, not only of the incidents themselves, but also the policy responses from the government," he said.

The Canadian Incident Database is fully accessible for free online and includes incidents up to Dec. 22, 2014. The search function allows users to break down results using a number of filters, including province, target, nationality of perpetrator and the type of weapon used.