Trade and political tensions between Canada and the United States have brought digital sovereignty into focus, raising questions about what the term means and how Canada can advance it. Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute, describes digital sovereignty as the ability to regulate digital environments using available tools, including overseeing algorithms. Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, notes it involves having Canadian choices and ensuring domestic law applies. The federal government defines it as staying in control of Canada’s digital future, data, technology, and essential online services without relying on foreign entities. Political discussions intensified after a mid-August post from the U.S. Trade Representative mentioned digital trade alignment in a potential trade deal, which later collapsed reportedly over American demands to exempt U.S. streaming companies from Canadian content rules. Following the breakdown, President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America, a change swiftly adopted by Google and Apple Maps for American users and noticed by some in Canada. Canada remains heavily dependent on American tech companies across both the public and private sectors. Shion Guha, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, highlights that the federal government heavily relies on Microsoft platforms, including a seven-year agreement signed in January by Shared Services Canada worth $940 million. A study on the federal government’s AI Register revealed Microsoft supplies 42 out of 409 systems. In contrast, France has taken steps toward tech independence, announcing in April that it would replace Microsoft Windows with Linux on government computers and mandate the use of the locally developed Tchap messaging app for public sector employees. For everyday Canadians, shifting away from dominant U.S. platforms like credit cards, cloud storage, and social media presents a significant challenge due to user inertia and convenience. Although homegrown alternatives like Gander Social launched in July to offer a Canadian social media option, Guha notes that user adoption depends on overcoming social inertia. To bolster domestic capacity, Canada released its National AI Strategy in June, pledging a homegrown supercomputer and sovereign cloud, AI, cyber, and quantum initiatives. Geist advocates for a balanced approach combining domestic AI programs with access to foreign models for advanced security tools. Furthermore, the federal government has classified data centres as critical infrastructure and introduced five principles for data construction to enhance long-term digital resilience, security, and compute capacity, ensuring facilities adhere to Canadian cybersecurity and data protection laws. AI Minister Evan Solomon emphasized at a press conference that failing to establish domestic rules means following external ones, as concerns persist regarding the U.S. government accessing Canadian data.
Source: cbc.ca
