Stelld is a form builder built and hosted in Canada. Here’s exactly where your data lives, which laws protect it, and how we compare to the American alternatives.
Data residency
Every form you build and every submission you collect is stored in Amazon Web Services’ Canadian region (ca-central-1, Montréal). That’s not a premium add-on — it’s the only way Stelld works.
The database and file storage both run in AWS ca-central-1. Backups stay in Canada too.
Data is encrypted on disk and protected by TLS 1.2+ on every connection.
Passwords are hashed with bcrypt, and team roles (Owner, Editor, Viewer) limit who can see and change what.
Why it matters
Under PIPEDA, your organization stays accountable for personal information you hand to a service provider — wherever that provider stores it. If your form tool is American, your compliance story depends on theirs.
US providers are subject to American laws like the CLOUD Act, which can compel them to disclose data they control — even data stored outside the United States. Storing Canadians’ data with a Canadian provider on Canadian infrastructure keeps things simple.
Some Canadian rules go further: Quebec’s Law 25 requires assessments before sending personal information outside the province, and public bodies in provinces like British Columbia and Nova Scotia face data-residency expectations of their own. Keeping data in Canada from day one avoids the paperwork.
Compliance
PIPEDA — Canada’s federal privacy law — sets out fair information principles for handling personal data. Here’s how Stelld’s design maps to them.
Encryption at rest and in transit, bcrypt-hashed passwords, and role-based access control.
A plain-English privacy policy and a published list of every sub-processor we use.
Export all of your submissions to CSV, anytime.
Data is kept only while your account is active. Request deletion anytime and we’ll remove your account and its data.
A session cookie for login, plus Google Analytics for aggregate usage statistics — no advertising trackers, no selling of your data.
Canadian-owned and operated, governed by Canadian law.
The alternatives
The popular form builders are excellent products — but they’re American companies, and that has consequences for where your data lives and which laws reach it.
| Criteria | Stelld | JotForm | SurveyMonkey | Google Forms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company jurisdiction | Canada | United States | United States | United States |
| US company subject to the CLOUD Act | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Form data stored in Canada | Always — every plan | Not by default | Not by default | Not by default |
| Billed in Canadian dollars | Yes | No (USD) | No (USD) | N/A (free tier) |
Comparison reflects publicly available information as of July 2026. JotForm, SurveyMonkey, and Google Forms are trademarks of their respective owners.
Transparency
No vague promises — here is the complete list of services involved in running Stelld, what each one sees, and where it operates.
| Service | What it handles | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services | All form data, submissions, and uploaded files | Canada (Montréal) |
| Stripe | Payment details, if you collect payments or subscribe to a paid plan | United States (PCI-DSS certified) |
| Resend | Email addresses, for transactional email like notifications and password resets | United States |
| Google Analytics | Anonymized usage statistics (page views, device type) — never form content or submission data | United States |
Your form content and submissions never leave Canada. Stripe, Resend, and Google Analytics only handle the specific data listed above — the same disclosure you’ll find in our Privacy Policy.
Stelld is built to support your PIPEDA obligations: Canadian data residency, encryption, access controls, export, and deletion on request. PIPEDA compliance ultimately applies to how your organization collects and uses personal information — Stelld gives you infrastructure that makes that story simple.
In Amazon Web Services’ Canadian region (ca-central-1) in Montréal, Québec — the database, uploaded files, and backups.
Only the people you invite, with the role you give them (Owner, Editor, or Viewer). Passwords are hashed, connections are encrypted, and we don’t sell or mine your data.
Export any form’s submissions to CSV anytime. To delete your account and all associated data, contact us at info@jsdesigns.ca and we’ll take care of it.
Keeping personal information in Canada simplifies Law 25’s rules on communications outside Québec, and the product is fully bilingual. As with PIPEDA, your obligations depend on your own practices — but the data-residency question is settled from day one.
Yes — built, owned, and operated in Canada, hosted on Canadian infrastructure, with pricing in Canadian dollars.
Start collecting registrations, sign-ups, and surveys on forms hosted entirely on Canadian soil.
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