Shopify must suspend its standard policy of deleting inactive merchant records after two years, following a Federal Court of Appeal order. The ruling preserves data while the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) appeals a prior loss in its bid to compel the platform to hand over bulk merchant financial information for tax compliance audits. Despite granting the injunction, Judge Nathalie Goyette admonished the government for waiting nearly two years to file the preservation request, describing the Justice Department’s arguments as “unclear” but ultimately prioritizing the public interest in retaining potential evidence.
