Bill 64 (Law 25) – Data-Residency Logic Guide

1. What is Bill 64 / Law 25?

• Official name: Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information
• In force: September 22, 2022 (phased rollout through 2024)
• Governs: Any organisation that collects, holds, uses, or discloses personal information of Quebec residents, regardless of where the organisation is located.

2. Core Data-Residency & Transfer Rules

| Requirement | Practical Impact on Code & Infrastructure | |---|---| | PIA before cross-border transfer | You must document why data leaves Quebec and what safeguards are in place. | | "Comparable protection" standard | If stored outside Quebec, encryption, access logging, breach detection, and contractual clauses are mandatory. | | Sub-processor list & contracts | Every cloud, CDN, e-mail, or AI service that touches the data must sign a Quebec-compliant DPA (data-processing addendum). | | Data portability & erasure | Provide endpoints or admin tools to export or fully delete any resident's data within 30 days of request. | | Breach notification | If data is outside Quebec, you must detect, log, and auto-report to CAI within 72 hours of discovery. |

3. Technical Checklist for AI-Generated Projects

✅ Host primary database & backups in Canada Central (Montreal) AWS, Azure, or Google.

✅ Enable server-side encryption at rest (AES-256) and TLS 1.2+ in transit.

✅ Log all access events (IP, timestamp, user ID) with 1-year retention.

✅ Build /export and /delete endpoints for each personal-data entity.

✅ Create alert webhooks to your incident-response channel if breach thresholds are met.

4. What AI Cannot Automate (N/A)

• Performing the legal sufficiency review of hosting regions.
• Drafting custom DPA clauses for each sub-processor.
• Deciding if a given encryption or tokenisation regime satisfies "comparable protection".

Always have a Quebec-licensed privacy lawyer or DPO review the final design before go-live.

5. Specific Compliance Requirements

Data Residency

• Primary storage: Canada Central (Montreal region)
• Backups: Must also reside in Canada
• Logging: Access log retention for minimum 1 year

Technical Security

• Encryption at rest: AES-256 minimum
• Encryption in transit: TLS 1.2+ mandatory
• Access management: Complete logging with timestamps

Resident Rights

• Right to portability: Data export in readable format
• Right to erasure: Complete deletion within 30 days
• Right of access: Access to personal data held

Breach Notification

• Detection: Automated monitoring systems
• Notification deadline: 72 hours to CAI
• Documentation: Detailed breach registry

6. Development Impact

Technical Architecture

// Example region configuration
const dbConfig = {
  region: 'ca-central-1', // Canada Central (Montreal)
  encryption: 'AES256',
  backupRegion: 'ca-central-1',
  accessLogging: true,
  logRetentionDays: 365
};

Required Endpoints

• GET /api/users/{id}/export - Data export
• DELETE /api/users/{id}/data - Data deletion
• POST /api/incidents/breach - Automated breach reporting

Contracts and Documentation

• Data Processing Agreements (DPA) with all vendors
• Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA)
• "Comparable protection" documentation

7. Resources and Support

Our team can help you:

• Audit your current architecture
• Implement required technical controls
• Draft compliance documentation
• Train your team on best practices

Contact us for a free Law 25 compliance assessment.

Download Our Complete Checklist

Get our detailed Law 25 compliance checklist, including all technical points and implementation steps.