Canada is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Canada has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows fair dealing, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Art. 29 of the Copyright Act, as amended by the Copyright Modernization Act, establishes exceptions to copyright for news reporting, criticism, or comment. An intermediary is exempt from copyright infringement if the work is used for research, private study, education, parody, or satire.

There is ongoing concern regarding the limited effectiveness of online copyright enforcement in Canada, particularly in light of persistent and diverse forms of infringement. These include stream-ripping services that impact legitimate music streaming platforms, unauthorised subscription-based IPTV and video-on-demand (VOD) services, as well as streaming sites offering illicit access to films and television content. Infringing devices and applications—available both online and through physical retailers—continue to undermine demand for authorised digital content, including for VOD services and video games. The sale and distribution of tools intended to circumvent access controls on gaming consoles further exacerbate the issue.
In addition, certain Canadian-based service providers have been linked to upstream piracy operations, including the unauthorised redistribution of telecommunication signals to secondary piracy platforms. Although some progress has been made in addressing Canada’s prior reputation as a permissive environment for online infringement, enforcement remains limited. Insufficient resource allocation and limited strategic prioritisation by government authorities continue to pose challenges to effective copyright enforcement. Furthermore, market access barriers remain a concern for foreign content producers and distributors operating in the Canadian audiovisual sector.

Canada has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Canada has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

In February 2023, Canada banned TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, citing an "unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security" associated with the Chinese-owned app. The decision followed a review by the Chief Information Officer of Canada and aligned with similar actions taken by the European Union and the United States. In response, TikTok expressed disappointment, stating that the ban was implemented without citing specific security concerns or consulting the company.

In October 2023, the federal government of Canada, through the Chief Information Officer, imposed an immediate ban on the use of WeChat and Kaspersky products on government-issued mobile devices. WeChat, owned by China’s Tencent Holdings, and Kaspersky, a cybersecurity firm based in Russia, were deemed to pose a risk to privacy and security when used on state devices.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is an intergovernmental trade agreement signed by Canadian ministers representing the federal government and all 13 provinces and territories. The Agreement commits provincial, territorial and federal governments to a comprehensive set of rules. The Government Procurement Chapter allows a procuring entity to limit its tendering to Canadian goods, services, or suppliers or to accord a preference for Canadian value-added, except as otherwise required to comply with international obligations, including the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and provided that its purpose is not to avoid competition or to discriminate against any other Party's goods, services, or suppliers (Art. 503.4(b)). The preference for Canadian value-added is up to 10%, which may be awarded during the evaluation of tenders for Canadian value-added (Art. 520).
According to the Contracting Policy Notice 2021-6 Trade Agreements, the procurement thresholds are differentiated based on the procuring agency, namely Entities (departments and agencies), Crown Corporations, and other public corporations. The thresholds for Entities (departments and agencies) range from CAD 100,000 (USD 74,450 approx.) to 238,400 (USD 177,490 approx.). The thresholds for Crown Corporations and other public companies range from 602,200 CAD (USD 448,340 approx.) to 733,600 CAD (USD 546,170 approx.). These thresholds are effective from January 2022 to December 2023.

According to Appendix E of the Directive on the Management of Procurement, as amended in August 2021, federal departments and agencies are required to ensure a minimum of 5% of the total value of their contracts is held by Indigenous businesses. To support this mandatory target, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) announced that it would invest CAD 35.2 million (Approx. USD 26.6 million) over five years to modernise the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB, renamed the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB)), including expanding the scope of the mandatory set-asides and broadening the definition of eligible “Indigenous business”.

Although Canada is a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), its coverage schedules do not include "telecommunications-related services" (CPC 754), and only one sub-sector of "telecommunications services" (CPC 752), which are both important services sectors for digital trade.

Saskatchewan Telecommunications is the only government-owned company in the Canadian telecommunications market and it is owned by the province of the same name. According to its statutes, foreign direct investment is not allowed in this company.

Telecommunication carriers, including internet service providers that own and operate transmission facilities, are subject to foreign investment restrictions if they hold a 10% or greater share of total Canadian communication annual market revenues, as mandated by the Telecommunications Act. According to Art. 16 of the Act, a Canadian carrier is eligible to operate as a telecommunications common carrier if it is incorporated, organised, or continued under Canadian or provincial laws and is Canadian-owned and controlled, operates only a specified transmission facility, or generates less than 10% of its annual revenue from telecommunications services in Canada. To qualify as Canadian-owned and controlled, Canadians must own at least 80% of the voting interests, and the entity must not be controlled by non-Canadians.

Canada requires that Canadian citizens comprise at least 80% of the membership of boards of directors of facilities-based telecommunication service suppliers.