# What does digital sovereignty mean for AI in Quebec? Date: 2026-10-01 · Author: Robert Scales · https://guidetoartificialintelligence.com/en/learn/quebec-ai-ecosystem-digital-sovereignty/ **Answer:** In Quebec, digital sovereignty means keeping public and personal data out of reach of foreign law while using the province's research strength at Mila and its hydroelectricity to build AI capacity at home. The debate is sharp because electricity surpluses are gone, data centres compete with other uses of that power, and environmental groups want a public review first. Quebec has three things most places would envy in AI: a research community centred on Mila, clean hydroelectricity and a cold climate. It also has a problem. According to a report in *L'Exemplaire*, the Université Laval student newspaper, nearly 80% of Quebec public-sector data is hosted by American cloud services. That gap explains why digital sovereignty has moved to the centre of Quebec politics. The word has particular weight here, and one writer uses it on purpose. Adam Westra, a philosophy professor who opposes Quebec independence, argued in *La Presse* in October 2026 for digital sovereignty as the new "Maîtres chez nous", the slogan of the 1962 hydro nationalization. ## Why data location is not enough The legal worry is specific. An American company answers to American law wherever it stores data, and the U.S. CLOUD Act lets authorities demand access even when the servers sit in Quebec. Quebec's Law 25 pulls the other way. It requires an assessment before personal information leaves the province, and it carries serious penalties. Cybersecurity and Digital Minister Gilles Bélanger told *L'Exemplaire* that sensitive data centres are as strategically important as "a bridge or a dam". Software architect Jean-Baptiste Martinoli told the paper that real sovereignty means controlling every technical layer, though he admits full autonomy is hard to reach in a globalized digital world. ## The research base Mila, the Quebec AI institute, brings together more than a thousand researchers, Westra notes, who too often work on machines located elsewhere. The institute welcomed the federal *AI for All* strategy in June. It said it is advancing Quebec French language AI and evaluation in several languages through a new partnership with Cohere, and it incubates LawZero, the safety-focused organization founded by Yoshua Bengio. Language is a sovereignty question in its own right. A model that handles Quebec French, civil law and local institutions poorly is less useful here, whatever its benchmark scores. The federal strategy promises work on tools that protect and promote French, and says AI used in government will perform equally well in both official languages. ## Electricity: the price of hosting Data centres need power, and that power has a new price tag. In January 2026, decrees asked the Régie de l'énergie, the energy regulator, to create a separate customer class. Radio-Canada reported that Premier François Legault tied the move to digital sovereignty, while leaving the door open to American firms if they pay higher rates. In February, Hydro-Québec proposed a new rate for data centres above 5 megawatts. Hearings are under way, and Hydro-Québec's Sarah Trabelsi told the Régie that "la période des surplus énergétiques est désormais derrière nous": the era of surplus power is over. Here is what that rate would mean for one large site, using the utility's averages and assuming it runs at full power all year. | | Today (average) | Proposed (average) | |---|---|---| | Price per kilowatt-hour | 6.82¢ | 13¢ | | Energy for 100 MW over a year | 876 million kWh | 876 million kWh | | Annual electricity bill | about $60 million | about $114 million | Real bills would differ, since few sites run flat out and existing centres would get a phase-in. Still, the gap shows why Google has asked the Régie to reject the proposal, and why Hydro-Québec says the change protects other customers from the cost of new supply. The scale is growing fast. Quebec has 82 data centres, four of them above 100 megawatts. Hydro-Québec expects data centre consumption to multiply by seven by 2035, to 1,102 megawatts. ## Who argues what | Position | Who | The argument | |---|---|---| | Go much further | Adam Westra, professor | A Crown corporation, "Intelligence-Québec", would own sites and partner with private firms, so foreign buyers could not acquire the base and profits would stay here | | Host, at a fair price | Quebec government, Hydro-Québec | Data centres are welcome if they pay the cost of new power | | Reject the rate | Google | Existing centres should keep their current rates while the issue gets a fuller review | | Stop and review | Nature Québec, Équiterre, Greenpeace, David Suzuki Foundation and others | Projects are approved one by one with no long-term vision; they want a generic BAPE environmental inquiry | | Count all the costs | Philippe Gachon (UQAM), Sophie Toupin (Université Laval) | Water use could conflict with other needs, and efficiency can increase overall use | Public opinion gives these groups some support. A poll by Angus Reid, cited in *La Presse*, found six in ten Quebecers oppose a data centre near their home. Alain Branchaud of SNAP Québec puts the choice directly, asking whether Quebecers would rather prioritize electrifying transport or data centres. Hydro-Québec plans to give 25% of new output to industrial projects such as these and 75% to decarbonization, but its spokesperson acknowledges the targets are not binding. Telus's Sovereign AI Factory in Rimouski, open since September 2025 and sold out, shows there is real demand. It also shows the limit of the word: it is Canadian-operated, on Nvidia chips and HPE-designed infrastructure. > **Try it:** Find one public service you use in Quebec that has adopted an AI tool or a cloud service. Look up which company runs it, and read the section of its privacy notice about where information is communicated outside Quebec. ## What should a Quebec organization do about this today? Start with what the law already requires. Under Law 25, before personal information is communicated outside Quebec, you must assess the privacy implications, so make sure that assessment exists for each AI tool in use. It is also the natural moment to ask your vendor about the CLOUD Act directly: if the company is American, or has an American parent, which legal orders could reach your data? Next, sort your uses. Drafting a newsletter does not call for a sovereign supplier. Patient files, legal cases or information about minors might, and for those you can compare Canadian-operated hosting, a local open model and a major cloud. Test French quality yourself on your own documents, because a general ranking will not tell you how a model handles your vocabulary. Finally, keep an eye on the Régie's decision. If the rate passes, the cost of hosting in Quebec rises, and vendors may pass some of that on. That would be one more line to compare when you choose. ## Sources - Des tarifs pour les centres de données et les chaînes de blocs: https://www.newswire.ca/fr/news-releases/des-tarifs-pour-les-centres-de-donnees-et-les-chaines-de-blocs-qui-refleteront-la-valeur-de-notre-electricite-renouvelable-896738915.html - Plaidoyer pour un BAPE général: https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/2026-06-18/centres-de-donnees/plaidoyer-pour-un-bape-general.php - Souveraineté numérique : quel prix politique et environnemental ?: https://www.exemplaire.com.ulaval.ca/actualites/souverainete-numerique-quel-prix-politique-et-environnemental/ --- From the Guide to Artificial Intelligence, by Robert Scales, published by Holistic Hybrid Inc. 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