OTTAWA - Recent documents reveal that the Canadian government has allocated nearly $1.3 billion for cloud services from U.S. companies, primarily Microsoft. This expenditure includes what officials describe as "mission-critical" applications for national defense. The information was disclosed in response to a query from Conservative MP Todd Doherty, who sought details on spending since 2021 for cloud services from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, as well as their roles in essential government functions.

According to the Department of National Defence, "Amazon Web Services hosts several mission-critical applications that directly support operational readiness and national security." These applications are utilized by the Royal Canadian Air Force for aircraft coordination and maintenance, as well as by the Canadian Army for situational awareness. The department emphasized that these capabilities are vital for both domestic operations, such as emergency response, and international missions.

The breakdown of spending shows that National Defence invested $4.57 million in Amazon Web Services, $8 million in Microsoft services, and $835,691 in Google services. The department noted that Google Cloud offers advanced artificial intelligence services that improve operational capabilities across various defense functions, including real-time language processing. Meanwhile, Microsoft Azure supports the military pay platform and provides operational planning tools for the Canadian Army.

The documents, presented in the House of Commons this week, illustrate the extent of the federal government's reliance on U.S. cloud services. Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously discussed the concept of establishing a "sovereign cloud" in Canada. He stated that such a project would "build compute capacity and data centers that we need to underpin Canada’s competitiveness, to protect our security and to boost our independence and sovereignty."

A sovereign cloud refers to a computing environment that complies with a specific country's laws and values. Guillaume Beaumier, an assistant professor at l’École nationale d’administration publique in Quebec, explained that a sovereign cloud would ensure that data and infrastructure remain within the country, preventing access from foreign nations. While companies like Amazon and Microsoft are developing sovereign clouds, Beaumier pointed out that these remain subject to U.S. law.

The U.S. Cloud Act permits the U.S. government to request data from American companies operating abroad for law enforcement purposes. This raises concerns about the security of Canadian data, especially amid ongoing trade tensions with the U.S. The aim of creating a sovereign cloud is to mitigate these risks, Beaumier noted.

In total, more than $1 billion of the Canadian government's cloud service spending has gone to Microsoft, with $247.4 million directed to Amazon, primarily for Amazon Web Services, and approximately $22 million to Google.