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ARTICLE · 04 FEBRUARY 2026

Navigating Export Controls In The Clouds: Canada Clarifies Rules On Cloud Storage And Transfers

McCarthy Tétrault
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Canada's authority for administering export and technology transfer controls, Global Affairs Canada ("GAC"), has released Notice to Exporters No. 1159 – Guidance on the Movement to and Storage...

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Terms Of Trade
John Boscariol
John Boscariol
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Oksana Migitko
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Canada's authority for administering export and technology transfer controls, Global Affairs Canada ("GAC"), has released Notice to Exporters No. 1159 – Guidance on the Movement to and Storage of Controlled Technology in the Cloud ("Guidance"), shedding light on a key question for businesses and academic researchers engaged in electronic transfers of controlled technology: When does using Canadian or foreign-based cloud services to store or transmit controlled technology trigger an "export" or "transfer" under Canadian export controls?

This long-awaited Guidance offers some important clarifications of GAC's position on these issues and how companies, researchers, and cloud service providers can approach compliance when leveraging cloud structures for sensitive technologies. With data routinely stored on servers located around the globe, determining when the use of cloud services results in the export or "transfer" of controlled technology, and therefore

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