Canadian data sovereignty, not just residency
The moment your data crosses a border — or touches a foreign-owned provider — it’s exposed to laws you don’t control. With ThinkOn, your data stays under Canadian law: owned, operated, and supported entirely in Canada. No foreign control. No CLOUD Act exposure. No compromises.
Only Canadian-owned CSP approved by Shared Services Canada
Powers Canada's Sovereign AI Platform
VMware Sovereign Cloud Partner of the Year 2025
100% Canadian-owned, operated
PIPEDA-compliant
Canada's first VMware Sovereign Cloud partner in Canada
%
growth in sovereign cloud services in 5 years
foreign contractors in our data supply chain
Data is part of our critical infrastructure, and whoever governs the cloud ultimately controls that data.
Is our data safe from the U.S. government if it’s stored in a Canadian data centre?
Where your data lives isn’t the same as who controls it. Foreign cloud providers can store your data in Canada and still be compelled to hand it to a foreign government. Under the CLOUD Act, a U.S.-owned provider must disclose data in its “possession, custody, or control” — no matter where the servers sit.
It’s easy to miss, because foreign hyperscalers build Canadian data centres, hire Canadian spokespeople, and present as local infrastructure — while operational control, legal accountability, and the data itself stays outside Canadian jurisdiction. Today, three U.S. companies control roughly 85% of Canada’s public cloud market.
Sovereign cloud goes beyond government
Sovereign cloud isn’t just for the public sector. It benefits virtually any enterprise, across every vertical concerned with maintaining the privacy of their Canadian clients’ data. There is a significant advantage to customers in regulated industries, such as financial services, healthcare, retail, energy, defense, intelligence, research, regional telecom, and government services.
Data sovereignty is the key to protecting your data and your future
What is the difference between data sovereignty and data residency?
| Data Residency | Data Sovereignty (ThinkOn) |
| What it means: where your data is physically stored. | What it means: who owns, operates, and can legally access your data. |
| A data centre physically located on Canadian soil. | Canadian-owned, run by Canadian security-cleared staff across storage, access, and transit. |
| Still exposed to foreign law if the service provider is foreign-owned. | Accountable to Canadian law alone — no CLOUD Act exposure. |
“Your data is located in Canada”
| “Your data answers only to Canada” |
A Canadian approach to data sovereignty
Go a step beyond data residency
We don't rely on staff or contractors outside Canada. Sovereignty, traceability, and supply-chain control stay compliant with Canadian regulation — in storage, in access, and in transit — so foreign governments can't reach your data.
Federal government approved
ThinkOn is an approved CSP under the Shared Services Canada Framework Agreement for Secure Workloads. Our infrastructure is continually reviewed against internal compliance controls and regularly audited by third parties to ensure our security measures align with best practices for reporting and control. You don’t need to be a government department to benefit from our enhanced data protection controls.
No cross-border data transfers
The moment data crosses the border it falls under foreign law like the CLOUD Act — even in transit between two Canadian data centres. With ThinkOn, it never leaves Canadian jurisdiction due to a strict separation between data centres.
Don’t sacrifice privacy for flexibility and scalability
Automate, innovate, and back up on flexible, secure infrastructure while your data stays in its country of origin. Sovereignty and scalability aren't a trade-off.
Future-proof your infrastructure
When privacy laws, security threats, or politics shift, you can adapt fast. Your workloads, applications, and data remain portable, and we never charge hidden egress fees to move them.
ThinkOn named VMware Cloud Service Provider Sovereign Cloud Partner of the Year 2025
ThinkOn is a VMware by Broadcom Sovereign Cloud partner
ThinkOn is the first Canadian VMware Sovereign Cloud partner and the only 100 percent channel-only provider. That means you get the “home and native land” benefits of a Canadian cloud computing solution with the strict data sovereignty controls and compliance standards of the VMware Sovereign Cloud initiative.
As a qualified VMware Sovereign Cloud provider, ThinkOn brings deep expertise across regulated industries, including:
Data Access & Integrity
Easy, secure data access that keeps information complete and accurate — fuelling innovation while staying compliant with local privacy law.
Independence & Mobility
Secure, interoperable portability so workloads move as needed for upgrades and to avoid vendor lock-in — without costly fees.
Security & Compliance
Security-cleared experts help you keep pace with a fast-changing legislative landscape without compromising protection.
Sovereignty & Control
All data stored locally — including metadata and backups — with no foreign contractors in the supply chain. You keep control and stay complain.
ThinkOn Sovereign Cloud—your data, your sector
Government & Public Sector
Government data held under sovereign control, meeting defence, privacy, and cybersecurity requirements.
Healthcare
Secure access to sensitive data that enables research and better patient care, with privacy built in.
Financial Services
Continuous compliance with secure data sharing to uncover insights and launch new services.
Legal
Client confidentiality under PIPEDA, with control and insight that drive efficiency.
Chosen to run Canada’s Sovereign AI Platform
When Canada needed a sovereign foundation for its national AI infrastructure, it didn’t look offshore — it chose a company built here. ThinkOn builds and operates the platform under contract with Shared Services Canada, already serving thousands of federal employees across multiple departments — entirely on Canadian soil, under Canadian operational and legislative control. CANCHAT, the Government of Canada’s secure AI assistant, is the first application running on it.
It’s the clearest answer to the residency-vs-sovereignty question: at ThinkOn, sovereign infrastructure isn’t a future ambition — it’s in production for the federal government today, built and run by Canadians, for Canada.
FAQ:
What is data sovereignty?
Data sovereignty means your data is governed entirely by the laws of one country — because it is owned, operated, and accessed only by entities subject to that country’s law. For Canadian organizations, true data sovereignty keeps data under Canadian jurisdiction at every step: storage, access, and transit.
What is the difference between data sovereignty and data residency?
Data residency is about location — where data is physically stored. Data sovereignty is about control — who owns and operates the infrastructure and whose laws apply. Data can reside in Canada yet still be exposed to foreign law if the provider is foreign-owned. Residency alone does not ensure sovereignty.
Is our data safe from the CLOUD Act if it's stored in a Canadian data centre?
Not necessarily. The CLOUD Act lets U.S. authorities compel U.S.-based providers to disclose data in their “possession, custody, or control” regardless of where it is stored — so a U.S.-owned provider’s Canadian data centre can still be in scope. A 100% Canadian-owned and operated provider like ThinkOn removes that exposure.
How do true Canadian sovereign cloud providers handle offsite backups and residency?
ThinkOn delivers geographically redundant Canadian data centres with AES-256 encryption and synchronous replication, so metadata and primary datasets remain under national jurisdiction.
Are the cloud services provided by U.S. hyperscalers actually sovereign?
No. A U.S.-owned provider can localize your data in Canada and still answer to U.S. law — the CLOUD Act applies to the company, not the building. A Canadian region, a local subsidiary, or a “data boundary” doesn’t transfer legal control to Canada. True sovereignty requires Canadian ownership and Canadian-only operations.
