OTTAWA (REUTERS) - Canada will not be intimidated by two attacks that killed two soldiers this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an address to the nation on Wednesday, adding that security agencies will do everything needed to counter threats to the country.

"Let there be no misunderstanding. We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated," Harper said.

"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."

A gunman whose name was on a terror watch list killed a soldier and attempted to storm Canada's parliament on Wednesday before being gunned down in turn by the assembly's sergeant-at-arms.

The attacker, identified in the Canadian media as 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, was considered a "high risk" suspect and had seen his passport seized to prevent him fighting abroad.

The shootings on Wednesday followed an attack on two soldiers in Quebec on Monday carried out by a convert to Islam. The man ran down the two soldiers with his car, killing one, before being shot dead by police. It was the first fatal attack on Canadian soil tied to Islamic militants.