Big tech holds 85% of Canadian cloud market

Amazon, Microsoft and Google control 85% of Canada’s public cloud market, according to a report released Tuesday by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, a concentration that has become part of the debate ahead of Ottawa’s national AI strategy. The report said the three U.S. firms hold a larger combined share in Canada than they do globally, where their average is 66%. Canadian news outlets including The Canadian Press, CBC and The Globe and Mail reported the figures on June 2. Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week the federal government’s AI strategy would be released this week. ### Who holds the market, and by how much? The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project said Amazon has 42% of Canada’s public cloud market, Microsoft has 31% and Google has 12%. Those shares add up to 85% of publicly available cloud infrastructure in Canada, according to the group’s report released Tuesday. (nationalobserver.com) CBC reported the group described cloud computing as “core infrastructure” and said the market is already highly concentrated. The Globe and Mail and Canadian Press reports said the 85% figure applies to public cloud market share in Canada and exceeds the companies’ 66% global average. ### Why is this coming up now? (theglobeandmail.com) Prime Minister Mark Carney said on May 27 that the federal government’s long-delayed national AI strategy would be released “next week,” placing its publication in the week of June 1. CBC reported the strategy is expected to outline Ottawa’s plans for artificial intelligence and includes six pillars, one of them building a Canadian sovereign AI foundation. (cbc.ca) The Spring Economic Update 2026 said “AI for All will support the building of sovereign compute infrastructure at scale — resilient, sustainable, and under Canadian governance.” Canadian Press reporting carried by multiple outlets said the cloud market report landed just before that strategy and tied the issue to AI sovereignty. (cbc.ca) ### What are critics of the current market structure saying? Curtis McCord, a policy analyst at the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project and a co-author of the report, told CBC that adding Canadian-branded providers would not by itself solve the problem if customers still face high switching costs. CBC quoted him saying the costs for clients to move from one provider to another are “extremely high.” (budget.canada.ca) Joel Blit, a University of Waterloo economics professor and senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, told CBC that high concentration in any industry should raise concerns about whether companies can exercise market power. The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project also argued, in language quoted by The Globe and Mail, that dependence on a small number of U.S. hyperscalers is both a sovereignty risk and a competition problem. (cbc.ca) ### What has Ottawa already said about sovereign AI infrastructure? Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada says the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy is intended to ensure Canadian researchers and companies have access to domestic compute infrastructure. The department launched the AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program in April and said it would support large-scale, Canadian-based compute capacity. (cbc.ca) The federal government said in May that it was advancing work with Telus under its large-scale sovereign AI data-centre initiative. CBC also reported that Ottawa’s consultations on the next AI strategy included focus areas such as sovereign infrastructure spanning compute, data and cloud. (ised-isde.canada.ca) ### What happens next in Canada’s AI policy debate? Ottawa is expected to publish the national AI strategy this week after Carney’s May 27 timetable. The strategy’s six pillars, as outlined by CBC from government materials, include protecting Canadians, expanding AI adoption, scaling Canadian champions and building trusted partnerships alongside the sovereign AI foundation. (canada.ca) The next concrete step is the release of that strategy by the federal government, with Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon responsible for the file and sovereign compute already embedded in existing federal programs. (cbc.ca)