Let’s stop pretending “digital sovereignty” is some abstract academic concept. It’s not. It’s about control. Control over our data, our communications, our AI, our money, our mobility, our food, our healthcare, and our defense. It’s about whether Canadians actually own their digital future or just rent it from other countries.
We love to talk about “innovation” and “sovereignty” in the same breath, but the truth is this: Canada doesn’t really own much of its digital destiny today. Our data sits on servers controlled by foreign companies. Our satellite communications depend on foreign systems. Our AI runs on foreign cloud infrastructure. Even our emerging digital money supply: stablecoins, is being built elsewhere.
We’re a tenant in the digital economy. We get access, but no ownership. We’re on the verge of becoming digitally colonized into a serfdom. When you rent from foreign powers, you surrender not only control but the ability to capture the economic upside that drives prosperity and standard of living.
That should make every policymaker, founder, and investor deeply uncomfortable. Digital sovereignty is about our economic survival.
What Digital Sovereignty Actually Means
When we think of sovereignty, we picture borders, land, and flags. Digital sovereignty works the same way, but just in cyberspace.
At its core, it means Canadian data, communications, and infrastructure are stored, governed, and secured under Canadian law. Not someone else’s.
To have sovereignty, we need:
- Physical infrastructure: servers, satellites, and networks have residency in Canada and controlled by Canadian companies, and operated by Canadians.
- Legal infrastructure: Canadian regulation and jurisdiction over how that infrastructure operates.
- Economic control: the ability to tax, procure, and invest in it strategically.
Why It Matters…
Schrems II Judgment Day
The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) issued its judgment today in …
