Microsoft, service by service
Does Microsoft store data in Canada?
Yes for Microsoft 365's core services; not for Forms.
Of the 10 Microsoft services listed here, 6 store Canadian customers' data in Canada (Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft 365, Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Dragon Copilot, Microsoft Bookings), 3 can store data in Canada if you choose it (Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure OpenAI (Microsoft Foundry)), and 1 does not offer storage in Canada (Microsoft Forms). Microsoft is a US company, so the US CLOUD Act can require it to produce data it controls, wherever that data is stored.
Checked against Microsoft's own pages; the newest check is 2026-10-15. What the US CLOUD Act says.
Every Microsoft service listed
Each row is a listing, with its own sources and the date they were checked.
| Service | Category | Stored in Canada? | Where data is stored | Where it is processed | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Exchange Online | Yes | Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: mailbox content (body, calendar, attachments) stored at rest only in the Canada geography (Microsoft Product Terms) | Not covered by the at-rest commitment; services may process outside Canada | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region | |
| Microsoft 365 | Office suites | Yes | Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: Exchange mailbox content, SharePoint and OneDrive files, and Teams chat messages stored at rest only in the Canada geography (Microsoft Product Terms) | Not covered by the at-rest commitment | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint | File storage and sharing | Yes | Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: SharePoint site content and OneDrive files stored at rest only in the Canada geography (Microsoft Product Terms) | Not covered by the at-rest commitment | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft Teams | Video calls | Yes | Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: Teams chat messages at rest (Microsoft Product Terms); meeting recordings are saved to OneDrive/SharePoint, also covered | Real-time media is not covered by the at-rest commitment | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft Forms | Forms and surveys | No | United States for Canadian tenants. Forms has no specific data residency commitment; tenants outside the EU, Europe and Australia default to the US | United States | Tier 5: Data leaves Canada |
| Microsoft Dragon Copilot | Transcription and AI scribes | Yes | Canada: customer data at rest stays in the tenant's geography for Canadian tenants, subject to exceptions in the product documentation (Microsoft Product Terms) | Not stated; Microsoft has announced in-country Copilot processing for Canada but not dated it for Dragon Copilot | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft Azure | Cloud hosting | Yes, if you choose it | Canada Central (Toronto); Canada East (Québec City) | Where you deploy it; two Canadian regions available | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | CRM | Yes, if you choose it | Canada geography (Toronto and Québec City); most customer data kept in Canada except Microsoft Entra ID data | Copilot and generative AI features for Canadian environments use Azure OpenAI hosted in the US | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Azure OpenAI (Microsoft Foundry) | AI models and APIs | Yes, if you choose it | Canada East offers Standard (regional) deployments for some models; Canada Central and Canada East for provisioned deployments | In the chosen Canadian region for Standard and Regional Provisioned deployments; Global deployments may process anywhere; Data Zones are US and EU only | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Microsoft Bookings | Scheduling and booking | Yes | Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: Bookings data lives in Exchange Online shared mailboxes, whose content is stored at rest in Canada (Microsoft Product Terms) | Not covered by the at-rest commitment | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
What does Microsoft commit to keep in Canada at no extra cost?
For a tenant provisioned in Canada, Microsoft's Product Terms say it "will store the following Customer Data at rest only within that Geo": Exchange Online mailbox content, SharePoint site content and files, files uploaded to OneDrive, Microsoft Teams chat messages (including meeting messages and images used in chats), and any stored content of interactions with Microsoft 365 Copilot or Copilot Chat. Teams was added on November 1, 2022, Microsoft 365 Copilot on March 1, 2024 and Copilot Chat on September 1, 2025. The commitment lasts as long as the customer's agreement with Microsoft, and it covers data at rest: Microsoft says "a customer request may be handled by servers in a different region than the location where a Tenant's Customer Data is stored at rest."
- Microsoft Learn: Product Terms data residency · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft 365 Data Residency? · checked 2026-10-15
What does Microsoft Advanced Data Residency add in Canada?
Advanced Data Residency (ADR) is a paid add-on, and Canada is one of the countries it covers. On top of the services above, it commits to store at rest in Canada the data of Microsoft Defender for Office P1, Exchange Online Protection (quarantined mail, junk mail, blocklists, reports and alerts), Office for the web, Viva Connections, and selected Microsoft Purview services: Audit, Data Lifecycle Management, Data Loss Prevention, Information Barriers and Information Protection. It also adds "Migration services to move existing data to your Local Region Geography", for a tenant whose data was first stored outside Canada.
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced Data Residency overview and requirements · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced Data Residency data commitments · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Compare Microsoft 365 data residency offerings · checked 2026-10-15
How much does Microsoft Advanced Data Residency cost?
Microsoft's pages read here give no price. To qualify, a tenant needs a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan (Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium included), a paid Teams licence, or an Exchange, OneDrive or SharePoint plan, and "Customers must cover 100% of paid licenses in the Tenant with ADR add-on licenses." There is no minimum seat count, but a tenant holding fewer ADR licences than eligible paid seats, by any amount, loses the commitment and "is subject to being moved out of the Local Region Geography."
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced Data Residency overview and requirements · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced Data Residency license management · checked 2026-10-15
Does Microsoft 365 Copilot keep data in Canada?
Stored content of Copilot interactions, yes: Microsoft 365 Copilot has been in the Product Terms commitment since March 1, 2024, and Copilot Chat since September 1, 2025. Processing, not yet. Microsoft announced in November 2025 that in-country processing of Copilot interactions would reach Canada in 2026, and repeated it in its December 2025 Canada announcement; its April 3, 2026 update says local processing is "expected to become available in Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States by the end of 2026, with support for Canada to follow in 2027".
- Microsoft Learn: Product Terms data residency · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft 365 blog: in-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot (2025-11-04, updated 2026-04-03) · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft On the Issues: Microsoft deepens its commitment to Canada (2025-12-09) · checked 2026-10-15
Where does Microsoft Forms store data for Canadian tenants?
In the United States. Microsoft lists Forms among services that "don't have specific commitments for Data Residency", and gives the United States as Forms' default storage location for tenants outside the EU, EFTA, the rest of Europe and Australia. Other Microsoft 365 services have no commitment to keep data in Canada even with Advanced Data Residency, among them Loop, Planner, Whiteboard, OneNote's caches, Viva Engage, Intune and Microsoft Entra ID. Some do store a Canadian tenant's data in Canada today (Microsoft's table puts Planner there), but no commitment keeps it there.
- Microsoft Learn: Data residency for other Microsoft 365 services · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft 365 services data locations · checked 2026-10-15
Are schools and universities covered?
Not by default. The Product Terms language for Office 365 Education says that if a tenant is provisioned outside the EU or EFTA and has not bought the Advanced Data Residency for Education add-on, Microsoft "may provision Customer's Office 365 Education tenant in, transfer Customer Data to, and store Customer Data at rest anywhere within the European Union or North America." The education add-on covers Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, and is available only to Volume Licensing or EES customers.
- Microsoft Learn: Product Terms data residency · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Compare Microsoft 365 data residency offerings · checked 2026-10-15
How can an administrator check where a Microsoft 365 tenant's data is?
In the Microsoft 365 admin center: Settings > Org settings > Organization profile > Data location. The data location card there shows the tenant's committed geography.
- Microsoft Learn: Product Terms data residency · checked 2026-10-15
- Microsoft Learn: Advanced Data Residency license management · checked 2026-10-15
What has Microsoft promised about government demands for Canadian data?
In December 2025 Microsoft said it would add "a contractual commitment, in which we agree to challenge any government demand for Canadian government or commercial customer data where we have a legal basis for doing so." Microsoft Corporation is still a US company, so the US CLOUD Act can require it to produce data it controls, wherever that data is stored.
- Microsoft On the Issues: Microsoft deepens its commitment to Canada (2025-12-09) · checked 2026-10-15
Summaries of Microsoft's own pages, not legal advice. Before you sign, ask the questions in the printable vendor questionnaire.