The Government of Canada has ordered short-form content platform TikTok to dissolve its operations in Canada, citing national security risks.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued the order on Wednesday (Nov. 6), calling for the wind up of TikTok Technology Canada, a subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance.

The decision was made “as a result of a multi-step national security review process, which involves rigorous scrutiny by Canada’s national security and intelligence community … on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” said Champagne in a statement.

The minister added that the order is in accordance with the Investment Canada Act, which “allows for the review of foreign investments that may be injurious to Canada’s national security.”

Notably, the government will not block use of the app, meaning TikTok creators in Canada will be able to continue to create content at home. However, Champagne noted that Canadians should “adopt good cyber security practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications.”

A spokesperson for TikTok said the company will be challenging the order in court.

“Shutting down TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone’s best interest, and today’s shutdown order will do just that,” said the spokesperson in a statement.

TikTok has two offices in Canada, one in Toronto and the other in Vancouver. The company’s employee base includes software engineers, ad sales and product managers. TikTok also runs a Creative Lab out of Canada, which is an in-house creative consultancy for agencies and key TikTok accounts.

The decision comes one week after the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued its national cyber threat assessment for 2025-26, which said that People’s Republic of China’s “expansive and aggressive cyber program presents the most sophisticated and active state cyber threat to Canada today.”

South of the border, the U.S. Senate passed a bill on April 23 ordering ByteDance to divest in TikTok within nine to 12 months or else the app would be banned in the country, citing similar concerns about national security threats. TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government a month later, arguing that the move violates the company’s First Amendment rights.

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