The Internet backbone is a vital infrastructure for us, but the current setup doesn’t give Canada enough control over our own digital assets. We must work actively to strengthen network security and resilience,4 and create an Internet that Canadians can trust—without fearing our future is in someone else’s hands.
How does your data travel across the Internet?
Living in an increasingly digital world means that even if you’re not constantly on social media, much of your daily life still leaves an online footprint. Whether it’s your financial transactions, health information, or just a meme you send to your friends, every interaction involves data moving across the Internet.
As abstract as the concept of the Internet may seem, it is actually a vast and technically interconnected network operated by various entities, including big telecoms like Rogers, Telus and Bell.5 These Internet service providers (ISPs) you pay a hefty monthly bill peer6 with different “sorting centres”7 ––known as Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)––to get your packets8 across these digital highways to reach its destination (and back).9
The hidden threats in your data’s detour
It’s understandable that when you’re contacting an American or other foreign site or service, your data will leave exclusive Canadian jurisdiction. And that will naturally expose your data to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance according to laws like the USA Patriot Act.10
However, what’s unbelievable is that even when you access Canadian sites (even those in your city!), your data often still flows through the U.S. Major ISPs in Canada have built networks that favour north-south connections,11,12,13 this pushes vast amount of Internet traffic that could have been domestic through a “boomerang route,”14 crossing our border to the U.S., before routing back to Canada.15
Result? This exposes data of millions of Canadians to threats:
- Unnecessary surveillance and vulnerability: Foreign agencies like NSA can scan our southern traffic, potentially compromising our personal and confidential information. In an increasingly unstable and untrustworthy American intelligence system, this scanning risks our data leaking to authoritarian state adversaries and private hackers for hire that are gaining easier access to American systems.16,17
- Legal vulnerability: Canadian data that crosses into U.S. territory becomes subject to U.S. laws and regulations, which no longer offer the same privacy protections as Canadian laws.18 Our own laws can’t help us manage this risk: since our current privacy laws were written two decades ago, they lack a fine or enforced remedy against companies transferring personal data outside of Canada with insufficient protection.19
- A deeply fragile Canadian Internet: Relying on infrastructure outside of Canada for domestic communications undermines Canada's control over our own digital assets and critical infrastructure for our country to function. As Trump’s America considers new ways to harass Canada, this risks a disruption of nationwide services if the U.S. weaponizes the critical role these IXPs play in our domestic communications.20
Why does network sovereignty matter?
If economic tensions with the US rise further, their new government may look to exploit our data choices to lash out at our welfare––and that’s where strong digital sovereignty becomes critical.21 It is vital to keep things Canadian in times of crisis, even something as technical as Internet infrastructure. It is possible for our Internet traffic to stay within Canada; our infrastructure is fully capable of supporting this; we have Canadian IXPs that are committed to routing security and reducing most common routing threats.22,23 All we need now is to call on MPs to stand up for Canada’s network sovereignty by demanding strong data localization laws that keep our domestic Internet traffic within our borders––before it’s all too late.