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Held in Canada

AI assistants

ChatGPT vs Gemini: which keeps data in Canada?

Where each stores and processes data, and who owns each company, from the vendors' own pages. Not features or prices.

Gemini is part of Google Workspace, so the facts here are Google Workspace's (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat, Gemini app).

The short answer

ChatGPT: yes, if you choose it.

ChatGPT offers Canadian storage, but you have to choose it, and it may depend on your plan. Where it is processed: Outside Canada: inference residency, which keeps "GPU execution" in the region, is offered only in Europe (EEA + Switzerland), the United States and the UAE, and "Non-GPU processing may still occur globally". It is owned by a US company, so the US CLOUD Act can require it to produce data it controls, wherever that data is stored.

Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region

Google Workspace: no.

Google Workspace does not offer storage in Canada. Where it is processed: United States or Europe if a data region is set. It is owned by a US company, so the US CLOUD Act can require it to produce data it controls, wherever that data is stored.

Tier 5: Data leaves Canada

Both are owned by US companies, so the US CLOUD Act can require either to produce data it controls, wherever that data is stored.

Side by side

ChatGPT vs Gemini, claim by claim
ClaimChatGPTGoogle Workspace
Stored in Canada?Yes, if you choose itNo
Where data is storedCanada, for new ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces provisioned with data residency: conversations, files, custom GPTs, memory, image generation and Code Interpreter artifacts, with "Backups and replicas of in-scope customer content" also in the region. Eligibility names only "new ChatGPT Enterprise/Edu customers"No Canadian data region. Data regions offered: United States, Europe, or no preference
Where it is processedOutside Canada: inference residency, which keeps "GPU execution" in the region, is offered only in Europe (EEA + Switzerland), the United States and the UAE, and "Non-GPU processing may still occur globally"United States or Europe if a data region is set
Support and backupsKept outside the region: "Workspace metadata", "Workspace name", "Billing information", "User logins", and anything sent through web search, apps or MCP connectors. The Canadian residency setting "does not currently apply to Sites storage and hosting"Not stated on the pages read
OwnerOpenAI OpCo, LLC (San Francisco, CA); OpenAI's for-profit, OpenAI Group PBC, is controlled by the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation · Parent country: United StatesGoogle LLC (Mountain View, CA) · Parent country: United States
Servers run byOpenAI infrastructure · US companyGoogle data centres · US company
Customer-held keysNot recordedNot recorded
CertificationsNot recorded (blank means not checked, not none)Not recorded (blank means not checked, not none)
Worth knowingStored in Canada, processed outside it. Canadian storage is set when a workspace is created, and is "included at no additional cost" on Enterprise and Edu."The Gemini app is available as a core service with most editions of Google Workspace". Data regions cover the prompts and responses of the Gemini app and of Gemini in Workspace, so they too can only be kept in the US or Europe.
CaveatsChatGPT Business (ChatGPT Team until August 2025) is not named as eligible: ask OpenAI whether a Business workspace can keep data in Canada, and whether an existing Enterprise workspace can be moved there. openai.com blocked automated readers on 2026-10-17, so the ownership and rename pages were read through a search engine's copy.—
TierTier 4: US-owned, Canadian regionTier 5: Data leaves Canada
Checked2026-10-172026-10-17

Sources

ChatGPT · checked 2026-10-17

Google Workspace · checked 2026-10-17

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