OVHcloud says it will vigorously contest criminal charges filed in Canada after authorities accused the company of failing to comply with a court-ordered demand for subscriber information tied to servers hosted outside the country.
In an announcement published today, OVH Groupe S.A. and its Canadian subsidiary, Hébergement OVH Inc., confirmed they have been charged with failing to comply with a production order under Section 487.0198 of Canada's Criminal Code and with obstruction of justice under Section 139(2). The company said it intends to fully challenge both charges in court.
According to OVHcloud, the case stems from a production order issued on April 19, 2024, under Section 487.014 of the Criminal Code. Canadian authorities sought subscriber and account information associated with IP addresses linked to servers hosted by OVH subsidiaries in countries other than Canada. The company argues that both its French parent and Canadian subsidiary acted in good faith while complying with the legal obligations applicable in their respective jurisdictions.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Roubaix, France, OVHcloud is Europe's largest cloud provider, offering public and private cloud services, dedicated servers, and web hosting to customers in more than 140 countries. The company operates over 46 data centers worldwide, including two in Canada, and has long emphasized data sovereignty as a core part of its business model.
At the heart of the dispute is OVHcloud's corporate structure, under which each national subsidiary operates as a separate legal entity subject to the laws of the country in which customer data is stored. The company argues that this structure is designed to ensure that customer information remains protected by the legal framework of the jurisdiction in which it resides, rather than being directly accessible through foreign legal demands.
Instead of relying on domestic production orders to obtain data stored abroad, OVHcloud says Canadian authorities should have used Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) procedures, which are established mechanisms for requesting evidence across international borders. According to the company, French authorities indicated that such a request could have been processed on an expedited basis within a matter of weeks.
“OVHcloud was built on a promise of trust, transparency, and data sovereignty,” founder and CEO Octave Klaba said in a statement. He added that the company believes it acted lawfully throughout the matter and will defend the principles of corporate separateness and respect for international law.
The outcome of the case could have implications beyond OVHcloud, particularly for cloud providers operating internationally and organizations that rely on jurisdiction-specific data protections.
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