Office suites
Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: 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.
The short answer
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.
Microsoft 365: yes.
For Canadian customers, Microsoft 365 stores data in Canada. Where it is processed: Not covered by the at-rest commitment. 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.
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
| Claim | Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Stored in Canada? | No | Yes |
| Where data is stored | No Canadian data region. Data regions offered: United States, Europe, or no preference | 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) |
| Where it is processed | United States or Europe if a data region is set | Not covered by the at-rest commitment |
| Support and backups | Not stated on the pages read | Not stated on the pages read |
| Owner | Google LLC (Mountain View, CA) · Parent country: United States | Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA) · Parent country: United States |
| Servers run by | Google data centres · US company | Microsoft data centres in Canada · US company |
| Customer-held keys | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Certifications | Not recorded (blank means not checked, not none) | CCCS Medium (Microsoft 365 is in Microsoft's assessed scope) |
| Worth knowing | — | The default for most Canadian public bodies. Data at rest stays in Canada by contract; the owner is a US company. |
| Caveats | — | Schools and universities: for an Office 365 Education tenant without 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" (Product Terms language, checked 2026-10-15). |
| Tier | Tier 5: Data leaves Canada | Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region |
| Checked | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-15 |