Snowflake has announced it has completed the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) Protected B Assessment for deployments in both the AWS Canada (Central) and Microsoft Azure Canada (Central) regions.
This assessment enables Canadian government departments, agencies, and regulated industries to make use of Snowflake's data platform to manage, store, and collaborate on sensitive data while adhering to Canada's elevated security requirements. With the Protected B certification, government and partners can accelerate the development of data-driven applications and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives on Snowflake's platform, benefiting from security controls and compliance measures mandated by the CCCS Medium Cloud Security profile.
Security standards
Snowflake's completion of the Protected B assessment reflects its stated commitment to supporting the digital priorities of Canada's public sector, with a focus on operational efficiency, national cybersecurity, and innovation. The company aims to provide a unified data environment that meets government expectations for security, allowing departments to break down internal data silos and modernise the delivery of public services.
"Across Canada's public sector, there is a clear focus on increasing operational efficiency, strengthening national cybersecurity, and advancing innovation. Data is at the heart of delivering on these priorities, with AI as the powerful enabler. Achieving the Protected B assessment reaffirms Snowflake's commitment to high security standards, furthering the AI Data Cloud's position as the trusted partner for both public and private sector clients."
Protected B status is required by Canadian authorities to manage sensitive personal and operational data involved in delivering essential government services and programmes. Departments working with this classification of data can now use Snowflake's data platform for projects such as intelligence analysis, threat detection, improved citizen services, and evidence-based policy initiatives.
Use cases and platform benefits
Snowflake's platform is positioned to support a variety of government use cases following this assessment:
- Securing national security and public safety efforts, such as cross-department collaboration on intelligence and emergency response, and enhancing cyber defence capabilities.
- Improving citizen experience by integrating data across agencies, supporting automated applications, AI-driven support, and fraud detection.
- Supporting real-time decision-making with AI-driven forecasting for healthcare, climate, environmental monitoring, economics, and social programmes.
- Internal government improvements through cost analysis, workflow automation, procurement, and predictive maintenance.
By providing a single, cloud-based service running uniformly on AWS and Azure, Snowflake aims to standardise the governmental data experience across different platforms and reduce the management burden associated with fragmented data systems. This approach is designed to enable resource reallocation from system maintenance to core programme delivery.
Canadian government's data-policy approach
Canadian government digital strategies continue to emphasise viewing data as a foundational asset and adopting cloud-first policies. Snowflake's architecture is structured to support these policies by providing security, governance, and scalable infrastructure that facilitates the secure sharing and analysis of government data.
Key advantages of Snowflake's platform for government clients, following this certification, include:
- Protecting sensitive information with governance and security standards suitable for cloud-based solutions.
- Allowing for secure, live data sharing across departments and partners, avoiding complex integrations or duplications.
- Enabling quicker development of data-driven and AI-supported applications in a regulated environment.
- Reducing IT costs and complexity by consolidating data operations, supporting cloud strategy adoption.
Commitment in Canada
Snowflake supports its Canadian agenda from its Toronto-based engineering hub, which is one of five similar centres globally. This hub is focused on adapting the platform for the specific needs of public sector organisations in Canada.
The company aims to sustain engagement with federal stakeholders and provide solutions for secure data exchange, improved programme delivery, and compliance with national standards.
