A gunman shot and killed a soldier at a war memorial in Ottawa, before police engaged in a gun battle inside the parliament building.
Police confirmed a gunman was shot dead, but Canada's capital remains on alert as they hunt for more suspects.
At a press conference, police said the situation was "ongoing" and "fluid".
It came hours after Canada raised its terror threat level, after another soldier was killed on Monday in a hit-and-run attack by a Muslim convert.
The country earlier this month announced plans to join the US-led campaign of air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.
But there is no confirmation any of this week's attacks are linked to IS or the new military campaign.
Citing unnamed Canadian officials, US and Canadian news agencies identified the dead gunman as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.
The latest incident began when soldiers guarding the memorial came under fire from a man carrying a rifle on Wednesday morning.
Shots fired at War Memorial at 9:52am today; one person injured," Ottawa Police tweeted.
A statement by Ottawa Police later confirmed the soldier had died from his injuries. He has been identified in the Canadian media as Cpl Nathan Cirillo.
Minutes later, dozens of shots were fired inside the parliament building, Canadian MP Marc Garneau toldnews agencies.
Canadian parliamentary waiter Alain Merizier described seeing a dark car stop outside parliament's centre block and a driver with "a long gun" get out and run inside the entrance of the building, pursued by a parliamentary officer.
He said: "I was astonished more than frightened. You don't have time to be afraid."
MP John McKay described the moment the gunman attacked parliament: "There was a pop, pop, pop sound so the guards ushered us to the back of the building.
"How the gunman was able to walk down the hall of honour inside parliament with a rifle will become an area of investigation." Prime Minister Stephen Harper was addressing the cabinet at the time but he was safely evacuated. He later condemned the incident as a "despicable attack".
Police stormed the building and the gunman was shot dead in a heavy exchange of fire. It has not been confirmed that he was the one who shot the soldier at the memorial.
Multiple members of parliament credited Sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers, 58, with shooting the assailant dead.
"MPs and [Parliament] Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms," New Democrat MP Craig Scott tweeted.
In addition to Cpl Cirillo, at least three other people were injured in the incident. Ottawa Hospital said later on Wednesday that they had released three patients.
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