Data stored in Canada can be subject to foreign courts, government paper warns
Canada faces legal limits on data control due to foreign laws like the U.S. Cloud Act, with $1.3 billion spent on U.S. cloud services since 2021, Treasury Board report says.
- A Treasury Board white paper concluded Ottawa cannot maintain full legal control of its data when suppliers face foreign laws, saying full digital sovereignty is unachievable.
- Providers follow foreign laws, which can create competing obligations under the U.S. Cloud Act, while Ottawa relies heavily on U.S. companies Amazon, Microsoft and Google, spending nearly $1.3 billion since 2021.
- The paper says the only way to obtain full legal control is to deliver services itself or use Canadian suppliers, warning that foreign courts may still claim jurisdiction even if data is stored in Canada, while mission-critical defence apps can be hosted by Amazon Web Services.
- Ottawa will do more work to map where sovereignty matters most, while Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon said recently the government is refining sovereignty definitions and telecoms BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. have launched sovereign AI data centres.
- Experts say sovereignty is a matter of degree and highlight skilled cloud, cybersecurity and AI workers as a challenge while Canadian companies touting sovereignty and hybrid models emerge.
34 Articles
34 Articles
Data Stored in Canada Can Be Subject to Foreign Courts, Government Paper Warns
A new government white paper on digital sovereignty says Ottawa can’t maintain full control over its data if its data storage supplier is subject to the laws of another country. It warns the federal government can only maintain full legal control if it delivers the service itself, or uses service providers that operate completely under Canadian jurisdiction. The paper, prepared for the Treasury Board, notes providers must follow the laws of each…
A new white paper warns that Ottawa cannot maintain full control over its data if it is hosted in other countries.
Data stored in Canada can be subject to foreign courts, government paper warns
OTTAWA — A new government white paper on digital sovereignty says Ottawa can’t maintain full control over its data if its data storage supplier is subject to the laws of another country. It warns the federal government can only maintain full legal control if it delivers the service itself, or uses service providers that operate […]
Federal Report Warns Ottawa’s ‘Sovereign Cloud’ Is an American Illusion
A federal white paper has revealed that the federal government can’t fully control its own data as long as it relies on cloud services run by U.S. tech giants—despite Ottawa’s repeated claims about promoting “digital sovereignty.” The document, prepared for the Treasury Board, warns that Canada only maintains complete legal authority over government data if
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