In a significant recent decision, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) altered the regulatory landscape when moving personal information between affiliated companies and across Canada’s border for data processing or storage purposes.

Any organization governed by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) will have to re-evaluate and likely adjust its approach to such cross-border data transfers, possibly affecting its outsourcing and cloud computing relationships with vendors and related companies. The OPC has also initiated a two-month consultation period with stakeholders concerning this important policy change.