Federal report questions Canada’s digital sovereignty

The country has recently entrusted public cloud infrastructures to U.S. hyperscalers, including in the defense sector.

The Canadian government released a white paper on November 3, 2025, highlighting weaknesses in the nation’s digital sovereignty. The document stresses that no state can fully control data hosted by a cloud provider subject to extraterritorial laws such as the U.S. Cloud Act.

According to the white paper, since 2021 the federal government has spent 1.3 billion Canadian dollars (800 million euros) on cloud services provided by U.S. companies AWS, Microsoft, and Google. These contracts, vulnerable to the Cloud Act, notably include “critical defense applications” hosted by AWS.

The current federal government—particularly AI Minister Evan Solomon—has made digital sovereignty one of its key priorities. Prime Minister Mark Carney is reportedly considering the creation of a sovereign cloud for Canada.