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Early Teams Adopters – Microsoft Offer: Free Data Move to Canada Datacenter

Opt-in for data migration if you have been using Teams in Canada prior to August 2018

Microsoft says:

Office 365 has a datacenter geo in Canada. We offer a migration service that now includes Microsoft Teams chat service data. Meet your data residency requirements and maintain resiliency with Office 365. Benefit from in-geo data residency for core customer data, business continuity, and disaster recovery.

What is happening?

If you’re an Office 365 user in Canada, you probably received the announcement at the bottom of this page in your inbox or through message centre. It confused us a bit, so we looked into it for you. Here’s what it means and whether you should do something in response.

Microsoft is offering early migration for in-geo residency in Canada. You can opt in before July 1, 2020 to migrate your organization’s core data at rest, and have your data migrated to the Canada data geocentre by July 1, 2020 at no extra cost.

Companies who want in-geo data residency and who have been using Teams prior to August 2018 should take Microsoft up on this offer.

Woman jumping up in the air at the beach with caption: Microsoft can migrate your datacenter to Canada for in-geo residency – at no cost.
Microsoft can migrate your data to Canada for in-geo residency – at no cost.

What is core customer data?

Core customer data is a subset of customer data that includes:

  • Exchange Online mailbox content (email body, calendar entries, and the content of email attachments).
  • SharePoint Online site content and the files stored within that site.
  • Files uploaded to OneDrive for Business.
  • Teams chat messages, including private messages, channel messages, and images used in chats.

Organizations who were using Teams in Canada before August 10, 2018 would have had that North American in-geo data residency. In fact, the current customer data migration presents the first opportunity for migration without data loss – and at no cost.

How do I request my data move to a datacenter?

Read in more detail about requesting your data move. However, organizations who adopted who adopted Teams after August 10, 2018 are not affected, as they already enjoy in-geo data residency.

Canada in-geo data residency is now the default for all customers with a Canada signup address associated with their Office 365 tenant. Consequently, even if you do not request a data migration, your data may be moved to the Canada data geocentre in time regardless.

Canadian Maple leaves bright red, orange and yellow
Canada-based organizations can opt-in for local data residence.

Here’s the announcement in full

Information: Moving your core customer data to Canada
Major update: Announcement started
Applied To: All customers

Information about moving to the Canada datacenter geo

Meet your data residency requirements and maintain resiliency with Office 365. Benefit from in-geo data residency for core customer data, business continuity, and disaster recovery. Office 365 has a datacenter geo in Canada. We offer a migration service that now includes Microsoft Teams chat service data.

If you are interested in early migration for your entire organization’s core customer data at rest, then opt-in before July 1, 2020. Microsoft will complete migration of your core customer data at rest to the Canada datacenter geo by July 1, 2022 at no additional cost.

Core customer data is a term that refers to a subset of customer data including:

  • Exchange Online mailbox content (email body, calendar entries, and the content of email attachments).
  • SharePoint Online site content and the files stored within that site.
  • Files uploaded to OneDrive for Business.
  • Teams chat messages, including private messages, channel messages, and images used in chats.

If you take no action, your core customer data at rest may still be moved to the Canada datacenter geo over time as part of service management and optimization. Canada is the default datacenter geo for all customers with a Canada signup address associated with their Office 365 tenant.

[What do I need to do to prepare for this change?]

You can review the location of your core customer data at rest and request early migration of your organization’s core customer data at rest in the Organization Profile section of Office 365 Admin Center. Please click Additional Information to learn more and for detailed instructions to request early migration.

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Microsoft Canada Inc.
1950 Meadowvale Blvd.
Mississauga, ON L5N 8L9 Canada