Open ProvincesEncryption and post-quantum computing: what changes for you
Encryption protects your messages, payments and files — until a more powerful machine breaks the keys. The move to quantum-resistant cryptography has already started, and it takes years.
Adapted from a guide first written for Quebec readers: passages specific to Quebec were removed. Rules in your province may differ.
Encryption protects your messages, payments and files — until a more powerful machine breaks the keys. The move to quantum-resistant cryptography has already started, and it takes years.
The problem is not tomorrow's machine, it is today's copy
Data encrypted with today's methods and intercepted today can be stored and decrypted later. That is why migration must start before the threat is practical: sensitive data has a decades-long life, and migrating a large organisation takes years.
What encryption protects
In transit (between your browser and a site, between servers, between a device and an app) and at rest (disks, backups, database exports). End-to-end encryption keeps the provider itself from reading content. Keys are the usual weak point: strong encryption with poorly managed or reused keys protects almost nothing.
Migration priorities
Long-lived data first (health, legal, industrial secrets, personal data kept for years) and systems that are hard to change (embedded hardware, medical devices, industrial systems, connected objects). Start with an inventory: where encryption is used, with which algorithms, key lifetimes and providers.
What an individual can do
Enable two-factor authentication, use a password manager, check the address and the padlock before entering information, encrypt devices and backups, and keep systems updated. For an organisation, security obligations already require reasonable measures, and following the reference recommendations is the simplest way to meet them.
Official sources
Sources and limits
Checked September 20, 2026 — amounts, deadlines and fees are not reproduced here: confirm the current value with the official source.
General information based on federal and national rules; provincial rules may differ. Confirm with the official body before acting. Last reviewed : 2026-09-20.