Upper Harbour

What Upper Harbour does

Upper Harbour is a Canadian technology sovereignty intelligence firm headquartered in Victoria, BC, founded by Joshua van Es. The company operates a proprietary platform built around the Canadian Technology Sovereignty Index, a database mapping 768 SaaS and cloud infrastructure tools to their parent jurisdictions, ownership structures, CLOUD Act exposure status, and data residency configurations. Its primary product surface is HarbourScan, a free browser-based tool that maps an organization's SaaS stack to parent jurisdictions in approximately 10 minutes, paired with pre-built compliance documentation including Transfer Impact Assessments for Quebec's Law 25 and Privacy Impact Assessments for BC's FIPPA, delivered as PDFs from $99. Additional research products include the Provincial Exposure Index, Sovereignty Policy Scorecard, Government SaaS Audit, Cloud Infrastructure Sovereignty research, and a Signals intelligence pipeline monitoring 37+ sources.

Upper Harbour serves Canadian organizations across multiple segments: Quebec-based companies subject to Law 25's mandatory TIA requirements, BC public bodies under FIPPA, federal and provincial government procurement teams, and Canadian SaaS vendors seeking sovereignty verification for their own GTM. The company has expanded vendor-facing products including the Sovereign Badge (recurring third-party verification) and Competitor Sovereignty Reports, plus custom multi-year consulting engagements covering full sovereignty assessments and remediation roadmaps. Revenue is generated through a mix of pay-as-you-go compliance documentation ($99+), premium HarbourScan reports ($2,500), recurring Sovereign Badge renewals, and scoped consulting work.

The company is founder-owned and bootstrapped, with no institutional funding, 1-10 employees, and no disclosed revenue figures. Upper Harbour's research and founder commentary have been featured in Maclean's, The Logic, OpenCanada, The Globe and Mail, and BetaKit, and the company positions itself as a reference source for procurement officers, compliance teams, and Canadian policymakers measuring technology dependency.

Name

Upper Harbour

Legal name

Upper Harbour

Website

https://upperharbour.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Upper Harbour is a Victoria, BC-based technology sovereignty intelligence firm that maps Canadian organizations' SaaS and cloud infrastructure dependencies to foreign jurisdictions, offering the Sovereignty Index, HarbourScan tool, and Law 25/FIPPA compliance documentation to Canadian buyers, vendors, and government entities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. HarbourScan Compliance Reports: Paid HarbourScan reports provide deeper analysis including gap identification, remediation guidance, and documentation support. Priced at $2,500 for comprehensive reports. Tiered from free scan to paid documentation.
2. Compliance Documentation (TIA/PIA): Transfer Impact Assessments for Law 25 and Privacy Impact Assessments for FIPPA, documented to withstand regulator scrutiny. Industry-specific reports from $99, delivered instantly as PDF.
3. Custom Consulting Engagements: Full sovereignty assessments, remediation roadmaps, vendor migration strategy, board-ready documentation, and ongoing monitoring. Scoped based on scan results and regulatory obligations. Custom pricing.
4. Sovereign Badge: Independent third-party verification of a Canadian vendor's sovereignty posture. Displayable on vendor websites and includable in proposals. Provides recurring verification revenue as badges require periodic renewal.
5. Competitor Sovereignty Reports: Side-by-side comparison of a Canadian vendor's sovereignty posture against up to three US competitors. Formatted for RFP appendices and enterprise sales decks. One-time purchase per competitive scenario.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Upper Harbour operates a proprietary technology sovereignty intelligence platform that maps every layer of Canadian organizations' technology stacks to parent jurisdictions, ownership structures, and CLOUD Act exposure. Its core product is the Canadian Technology Sovereignty Index, a database of 768 SaaS and cloud infrastructure tools powering the free browser-based HarbourScan scanner and a suite of paid compliance outputs (Transfer Impact Assessments for Quebec's Law 25, Privacy Impact Assessments for BC's FIPPA, industry-specific compliance reports, a Sovereign Badge vendor verification program, and competitor sovereignty reports).

Product overview

Upper Harbour is a technology sovereignty intelligence platform for Canadian organizations. The core offering consists of HarbourScan (a free browser-based SaaS stack mapping tool) paired with a paid Sovereignty Index database covering 768 tools. The platform offers compliance documentation products including Transfer Impact Assessments (TIAs), Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), and industry-specific compliance reports starting at $99, with deeper paid HarbourScan reports at $2,500. Research products include the flagship Canadian Technology Sovereignty Index, Government SaaS Audit, Sovereignty Policy Scorecard, Cloud Infrastructure Sovereignty research, and a Signals intelligence pipeline monitoring jurisdictional changes. Consulting services provide full sovereignty assessments and remediation roadmaps. The Sovereignty Badge and Competitor Sovereignty Report are vendor-facing add-ons for proving Canadian data sovereignty to procurement teams.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HarbourScan: Free browser-based SaaS stack mapping tool that identifies parent jurisdictions and CLOUD Act exposure for tools in an organization's technology stack.
• Sovereignty Index
• Canadian Technology Sovereignty Index
• Sovereignty Score
• Sovereign Badge

Products and services

• HarbourScan (Free Tier) Free browser-based SaaS stack scanning tool that maps an organization's tools to parent jurisdictions, flags CLOUD Act exposure, identifies Canadian data residency availability, and surfaces compliance gaps. Runs in approximately 10 minutes with no data stored.
• HarbourScan Paid Reports Deeper analysis reports priced at $2,500 providing gap identification, remediation guidance, and documentation support beyond the free scan. Delivered as PDF.
• Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) Reports Pre-built compliance documentation for cross-border SaaS tools as required under Quebec's Law 25, including jurisdictional data from the 768-tool database. Industry-specific reports from $99 delivered instantly as PDF.
• Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) Reports Compliance documentation for BC's FIPPA and other provincial privacy laws covering jurisdictional risk assessment for SaaS tools storing sensitive personal information outside Canada.
• Industry-Specific Compliance Reports Compliance reports from $99 that include TIAs for every SaaS tool in a given vertical, jurisdiction analysis, CLOUD Act exposure flags, Canadian alternatives, and remediation priorities.
• Sovereign Badge Independent third-party verification by Upper Harbour confirming a Canadian vendor's jurisdiction, hosting location, and CLOUD Act status. Displayable on vendor websites and includable in proposals; recurring verification revenue model with periodic renewal.
• Competitor Sovereignty Report Side-by-side comparison of a Canadian vendor's sovereignty posture against up to three US competitors, formatted for RFP appendices and enterprise sales decks. One-time purchase per competitive scenario.
• Custom Sovereignty Consulting Services Full sovereignty assessments, remediation roadmaps, vendor migration strategy, board-ready documentation, and ongoing monitoring scoped based on scan results and regulatory obligations. Custom multi-year contract pricing.

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• BigID: Data intelligence platform for privacy, security, and governance with automated data discovery and DSAR/TIA workflow support. Comparable as a vendor offering tooling for cross-border transfer assessments and Canadian-relevant privacy compliance programs.
• Whistic: Vendor security assessment and trust exchange platform offering proactive vendor security documentation and RFP response tooling. Comparable because it addresses the same Canadian-vendor-facing sovereignty trust verification use case that Upper Harbour's Sovereign Badge and Competitor Sovereignty Report products target.
• Kiteworks: Sensitive content communications platform that publishes annual Data Sovereignty and Compliance reports, including Canadian-specific 2026 research cited by Upper Harbour. Comparable because it operates in the same data sovereignty narrative space and produces comparable compliance thought leadership.
• Privado: Privacy engineering platform that automates privacy reviews and generates compliance documentation including impact assessments. Comparable because it produces privacy impact assessment documentation at a similar price point and self-serve motion to Upper Harbour's TIA/PIA products.

Broad incumbents

• OneTrust: Large-scale privacy, security, and governance platform with modules for transfer impact assessments, vendor risk management, and data mapping. Comparable because it offers TIA workflows and privacy program automation that overlap with Upper Harbour's Law 25 compliance products, though it is a horizontal incumbent rather than a Canadian sovereignty specialist.
• TrustArc: Privacy compliance and risk management platform offering privacy impact assessments, vendor diligence, and regulatory intelligence. Comparable because it provides compliance documentation tooling that competes with Upper Harbour's TIA/PIA products across multiple jurisdictions.
• Collibra: Enterprise data intelligence and governance platform addressing data lineage, cataloging, and stewardship. Comparable in addressing organizational data visibility and governance, though it operates at a broader data management level rather than jurisdictional sovereignty.
• Securiti: Data governance and privacy management platform with automated data mapping, TIA generation, and cross-border transfer assessments. Comparable because its Data Command Center addresses similar transfer impact and residency use cases that Upper Harbour addresses for the Canadian market.
• Deloitte (Privacy & Data Protection practice): Big Four consulting practice offering Law 25 compliance, FIPPA advisory, and sovereignty assessments for large Canadian enterprises and government. Comparable because it competes directly with Upper Harbour's custom consulting and TIA deliverables, particularly for enterprise and public-sector buyers.

Others

• Canadian Centre for Cyber Security: Federal government body under CSE that issues guidance on cybersecurity, data protection, and sovereignty for Canadian organizations. Comparable because it shapes the regulatory and policy environment Upper Harbour maps and could publish authoritative sovereignty intelligence that competes with the company's research products.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upper-harbour

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Upper Harbour