A video made by the gunman who attacked Canadian parliament last week reveals "persuasive evidence" that he was driven by political and ideological motives, police say.

A statement from Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson says Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, "prepared a video recording of himself just prior to conducting this attack".

The video is currently undergoing intensive analysis and is yet to be released.

According to Paulson, a knife carried by Zehaf-Bibeau was taken from a property belonging to his aunt in Mont Tremblant, where he lived three years ago.

The money used to fund his "pre-attack activities" was saved from when he worked in the oil fields of Alberta, Paulson added.

"He [Zehaf-Bibeau] had access to a considerable amount of funds.

"The RCMP is also investigating Zehaf-Bibeau's interactions with numerous individuals in the days leading up to this attack. The investigation is focusing on whether these interactions could have contributed or facilitated, in any way, the terrorist attack subsequently committed by Zehaf-Bibeau," Paulson said.

A Canadian convert to Islam, Zehaf-Bibeau is thought to have been radicalised though as yet there has been no link made between him and known Islamic extremists.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was inside Parliament in Ottawa at the time of the shooting, has labelled it a terror attack, however.

Harper said that Canada will "never be intimidated" by terrorist activity.

"Let there be no misunderstanding. We will not be intimidated," he said following the shooting. "In fact this will lead us to strengthen our resolve and redouble our efforts - and those of our national security agencies - to take all necessary steps to identify and counter threats and keep Canada safe here at home."

Zehaf-Bibeau fired shots near an Ottawa war memorial, killing 24-year-old Corporal Nathan Cirillo, before himself being shot fatally inside parliament by Sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers on October 22.