Canadian Trade Secrets: Year In Review 2025

In Canada, trade secrets and confidential business information are protected through contract and common law fiduciary obligations. Trade secrets can include:

• formulas and processes (e.g., manufacturing methods);
• business strategies and plans;
• customer lists and pricing models; and
• technical know-how or proprietary algorithms.

Unlike patents, trade secrets are protectable as long as they are kept secret and reasonable measures are taken to maintain confidentiality. Though no single, comprehensive definition of a trade secret exists in Canadian law, it is generally understood that a trade secret must satisfy the following four criteria:

1. it must be secret in an absolute or relative sense (known only to one or a small number of people);