A federal court in Canada has suspended the government’s order to shut down TikTok’s business operations, forcing Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to conduct a new national security review of the ByteDance-owned platform.
The decision, reported by multiple news outlets out of Canada, came after the government and TikTok reached a deal to scrap the shutdown order that had been issued in 2024.
The order would have prevented access to TikTok for 14 million users in Canada.
Danielle Morgan, a spokesperson for TikTok Canada, told Radio Canada that the company is pleased with the decision and is looking forward to working with Minister Joly.
Morgan said: “Maintaining the Canadian TikTok team will allow continued support of multi-million dollar investments in Canada and hundreds of local jobs.”
“Maintaining the Canadian TikTok team will allow continued support of multi-million dollar investments in Canada and hundreds of local jobs.”
Danielle Morgan, TikTok Canada (via radio canada)
Separately, a spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, a government institution working in all areas of the economy, told CBC News that Minister Joly “will now proceed with a new national security review.”
The spokesperson said: “Due to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act, we are not in a position to comment further on the review.”
“Due to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act, we are not in a position to comment further on the review.”
spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (via cbc news)
The government initially ordered TikTok to wind up its Canadian operations under then-Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, citing “specific national security risks” that had been identified during a year-long review of TikTok’s Canadian operations.
As Bloomberg previously reported, TikTok employs roughly 350 people across its Toronto and Vancouver offices and reported paying C$340 million ($246 million) in taxes between 2019 and 2024.
Amid threats of a shutdown, TikTok Canada had already begun cutting cultural sponsorships and programs, withdrawing support from the Juno Awards, Toronto International Film Festival and ADISQ last year.
In July, TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew wrote to Joly, requesting an urgent face-to-face meeting. The letter, reviewed by Bloomberg, warned that without government intervention, TikTok would be forced to terminate its entire Canadian workforce.
At the time, Steve de Eyre, director of TikTok’s government affairs for Canada, told Bloomberg that uncertainty had cost the company employees. “We’ve had people who have unfortunately left for other opportunities because of this order being out there, and we haven’t been able to rehire for those roles because of the order.”
Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, told Radio Canada that the court decision is more of a consent order rather than a judgment on merits.
Geist said: “In essence, the government has given in and agreed to revise its strategy. The court is simply acquiescing to the government’s request, jointly with TikTok, to start from scratch.”
Geist argued the original shutdown order “never truly addressed the fundamental privacy and security concerns Canadians might have.”
“Banning the company in Canada meant withdrawing its support for various cultural initiatives. It was therefore difficult to understand what the government was trying to achieve.”
Michael Geist, University of Ottawa (via radio canada)
“Banning the company in Canada meant withdrawing its support for various cultural initiatives. It was therefore difficult to understand what the government was trying to achieve,” Geist told Radio Canada.
The Canadian court’s decision marks another win for TikTok in North America after the company retained its operations in the US following a joint venture deal signed between Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX.
As part of the new joint venture, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, TikTok plans to retrain its recommendation algorithm exclusively using US user data, according to earlier reports. That deal is expected to close today (January 22).
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