Application and API hosting
Where application code and back-end services execute.
Canadian data residency
Know where your data actually lives.
Applications can create copies of information across databases, backups, logs, analytics systems, AI services and third-party integrations.
Underlabs designs software architectures that keep required data and infrastructure within Canada while preserving the performance and functionality the system needs.
An architecture decision
The question is not only where the database lives.
A primary database can be in Canada while analytics, error reporting, backups, email, AI APIs or other integrations send information elsewhere.
The better question is: where can information travel throughout the entire system?
- 01ApplicationWeb, mobile and internal interfaces
- 02API and back endServices, authentication and processing
- 03DatabasesCustomer and operational records
- 04Files, backups and logsPrimary, secondary and technical copies
- 05Analytics, AI and integrationsServices receiving or deriving information
What we look at
The complete data footprint.
Underlabs reviews the components that store, process, copy or transmit information, including search indexes, administration systems and support access, not only the primary cloud provider.
Databases
Where structured customer and business information is stored.
Files and object storage
Documents, media, exports and uploaded content.
Backups and disaster recovery
Where secondary copies and recovery environments are kept.
Logs and monitoring
Operational data can itself contain sensitive information.
AI and external services
Where prompts, documents, embeddings and derived information may be processed.
An important distinction
Data residency ≠ data sovereignty
01
Data residency
Where information is physically stored or processed.
02
Data sovereignty
The legal, operational and technical authorities that ultimately control the information and its surrounding infrastructure.
A workload can physically reside in Canada while still depending on foreign-controlled platforms, external AI services or administrative systems elsewhere. For some organizations, Canadian residency is sufficient. Others need stronger operational or technological control.
Learn about Canadian Data & AI SovereigntyCanadian by design
A requirement built into the system, not a checkbox.
Underlabs designs application architecture, APIs, databases, storage, integrations and deployment around the agreed residency boundary.
- 01
Map the data
Identify the information in the system, its copies and every place it moves.
- 02
Define residency requirements
Determine which workloads and datasets must remain in Canada.
- 03
Select infrastructure intentionally
Choose appropriate regions, providers and deployment models.
- 04
Audit external dependencies
Review analytics, APIs, AI, backups and third-party processors.
- 05
Build for operational reality
Preserve reliability, monitoring, performance and recovery.
When Canadian residency matters
The reasons are specific to each organization.
Organizations in these environments may have contractual, procurement, privacy, governance or internal-policy reasons to require Canadian residency. This does not mean every organization or workload has a legal requirement to do so.
- Healthcare
- Government and public-sector work
- Enterprise procurement
- Financial and professional services
- Intellectual property
- Internal systems and employee information
- Customer information
- AI processing sensitive company data
AI expands the boundary
A Canadian-hosted application can still send data elsewhere.
AI systems can add model APIs, vector databases, document-processing tools, inference providers, evaluation systems and agent tools. Each becomes another possible data destination.
Underlabs designs these data paths so the boundaries are explicit and components are selected for the actual sensitivity of the workload.
Understand who controls the model, inference and infrastructure in a sovereign AI architecture.
Start with the data path
Define what must remain in Canada.
Share your data, current providers, procurement requirements and operational needs. We can map the system and design an appropriate Canadian-residency architecture.