For two decades, Canada has played the role of bystander in the global digital economy. Foreign tech giants have extracted our data and intellectual property, while giving little in return beyond sales offices and PR campaigns. Trade deals have limited our sovereignty, and real innovation has too often been sold abroad.
The harsh truth is clear: foreign laws governing foreign companies will always take precedence over Canadian law. If even France struggles to keep its citizens’ data out of U.S. hands, how naïve were we to believe Canada could?
A $1 Billion Opportunity
Canada now has a chance to build a sovereign digital backbone — a Canadian-owned, secret/top secret cloud layered with world-leading AI. The price tag: about $1 billion. The payoff: modernized healthcare, education, research, and national security. Companies like OpenText, Bell, ThinkOn, and Cohere could deliver this stack within months if backed by political will.
The Legal Advantage
What would truly set Canada apart is not just technology, but law. By enshrining protections against foreign mining of citizens’ data, Canada could become a global safe haven for digital sovereignty — a trusted host nation at a time of geopolitical tension.
A Moment of Choice
Fail to act, and Canada will remain a “digital colony,” watching others profit from our data. Seize the moment, and we could correct decades of mistakes, establish leadership in digital sovereignty, and align with our tradition as an honest broker on the world stage.
The choice is before us: continue playing catch-up, or step into true leadership.