PIPEDA.
Canada’s federal privacy law governing how private-sector organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information during commercial activities. Applies to every business operating in Canada. Requires consent, safeguards, and breach notification.
PIPEDA sets the baseline for private-sector privacy in Canada. Federally regulated businesses (banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transport) follow PIPEDA exclusively; provincially regulated businesses in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec follow their respective provincial laws (which are deemed "substantially similar" to PIPEDA) for activity within those provinces, and PIPEDA for cross-border or interprovincial commerce. Quebec’s Law 25 is materially stricter than PIPEDA and has produced the most regulator activity. Breach notification under PIPEDA is required when there is a "real risk of significant harm". That is a higher threshold than GDPR’s 72-hour rule, but with no fixed timeline.
Connected concepts.
Data sovereignty
Data residency and jurisdictional controlWho has legal power over your data, and whose courts can order it handed over. Data residency is only where the data is physically stored. The two differ: a Canadian region run by a US-headquartered provider keeps the data in Canada but leaves it reachable by US legal process.
Zero Trust
Zero-trust security architectureA security model that assumes no user or device is trusted by default, regardless of whether they’re inside the network perimeter. Every access request is verified, authenticated, and authorized. Often summarized as "never trust, always verify."
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