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Held in Canada

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Slack vs Microsoft Teams: 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

Slack: yes, if you choose it.

Slack offers Canadian storage, but you have to choose it, and it may depend on your plan. Where it is processed: Residency changes only where data is stored: "Slack will continue to process that data" under its agreement and privacy policy. Its subprocessor list names Microsoft Azure (US) for generative AI services. 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

Microsoft Teams: yes.

For Canadian customers, Microsoft Teams stores data in Canada. Where it is processed: Real-time media is 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.

Tier 4: US-owned, Canadian region

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

Slack vs Microsoft Teams, claim by claim
ClaimSlackMicrosoft Teams
Stored in Canada?Yes, if you choose itYes
Where data is storedMontreal (backup region Calgary), once data residency is set up on a Business+ or Enterprise plan: "Messages, canvases, and snippets", uploaded files, the search index and app-generated content. Without it, "your data will be stored in the US"Canada, for tenants provisioned in Canada: Teams chat messages at rest (Microsoft Product Terms); meeting recordings are saved to OneDrive/SharePoint, also covered
Where it is processedResidency changes only where data is stored: "Slack will continue to process that data" under its agreement and privacy policy. Its subprocessor list names Microsoft Azure (US) for generative AI servicesReal-time media is not covered by the at-rest commitment
Support and backupsBackups in Calgary. Kept outside the region: "Slack member profiles", workspace and channel membership, seat count, usage and revenue data, sanitized logs; flagged or reported content may be stored in the USNot stated on the pages read
OwnerSlack Technologies, LLC, a Salesforce company (Salesforce, Inc., San Francisco, CA) · Parent country: United StatesMicrosoft Corporation (Redmond, WA) · Parent country: United States
Servers run byAmazon Web Services (Slack's subprocessor list) · US companyMicrosoft data centres in Canada · US company
Customer-held keysEnterprise Key Management; keys can be kept in the data regionNot recorded
CertificationsNot recorded (blank means not checked, not none)CCCS Medium (Microsoft 365 is in Microsoft's assessed scope)
Worth knowingCanada is opt-in, not the default: it is set up through Slack's sales team. A workspace that turns it on later keeps its existing data in the US unless it asks Slack to migrate it.—
CaveatsFree and Pro plans have no data residency. Ask Slack where huddles (Amazon Chime) and Slack AI are processed for a workspace resident in Canada; the residency page doesn't say.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).
TierTier 4: US-owned, Canadian regionTier 4: US-owned, Canadian region
Checked2026-10-162026-10-15

Sources

Slack · checked 2026-10-16

Microsoft Teams · checked 2026-10-15

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