Law · History · Technology · Policy

Joshua
van Es

Corporate lawyer, researcher, and entrepreneur exploring how Canada can build trusted infrastructure for the AI era.

Corporate Law AI Governance Data Sovereignty Canadian History

Writing Featured In

About

Bridging law, technology,
and national interest.

From documenting Canada's history to shaping its digital future.

Joshua van Es is an articling student in corporate law at Stikeman Elliott whose work spans the intersection of legal practice, technology policy, and Canadian history.

He holds a J.D. from the University of British Columbia and degrees in psychology and history, including a master's in Canadian history from the University of Victoria. His research has taken him from national history projects like Landscapes of Injustice to the frontlines of AI governance — asking hard questions about who controls Canada's digital infrastructure, and why it matters.

Beyond the law, Joshua has built a primary-care clinic, contributed to national policy conversations through publications in Maclean's, OpenCanada, and BetaKit, and is now focused on data sovereignty and trusted AI infrastructure through Upper Harbour.

Joshua van Es

Background

Articling Student, Corporate Law
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Founder & CEO
Upper Harbour
Juris Doctor (J.D.)
University of British Columbia
M.A., Canadian History
University of Victoria
Founder
Cordova Bay Medical Clinic
Research Contributor
Landscapes of Injustice (SSHRC)

Journey

From archives to infrastructure.

University of Victoria
Master's in Canadian History
Studied the dispossession of Japanese Canadians during WWII. Contributed a chapter to the Landscapes of Injustice volume published by McGill-Queen's University Press, and authored the project's public-facing narrative website.
Entrepreneurship
Founded Cordova Bay Medical Clinic
Built a primary-care clinic from the ground up — operations, regulation, and building something people depend on.
UBC Law
Juris Doctor
Focused on the intersection of corporate law, technology regulation, and data governance. Began writing publicly about AI infrastructure and Canadian digital sovereignty.
National Publications
Maclean's, OpenCanada, BetaKit
Published widely on Canada's AI infrastructure gap, sovereign compute, and the policy failures that leave Canadian data exposed to foreign jurisdictions.
Stikeman Elliott
Corporate Law Articles
Articling in corporate law at one of Canada's leading national firms, working at the intersection of transactions, technology, and regulatory compliance.
2026
Launched Upper Harbour
Built a technology sovereignty intelligence platform to help Canadian organizations map jurisdictional exposure, document sovereignty risk, and produce defensible compliance documentation.
"

Canada is building an AI strategy on infrastructure it doesn't own, in jurisdictions it doesn't control, subject to laws it didn't write.

— Joshua van Es, Maclean's

Writing & Publications

Selected work.

Writing on AI governance, digital sovereignty, Canadian law and history.

Maclean's
Canada Needs Homegrown AI Infrastructure
On why relying on foreign cloud providers puts Canada's AI ambitions — and sovereignty — at risk.
→
OpenCanada
Canada's Sovereign AI Compute Gap
Why we're still treating a strategic asset as a service — and what it costs us.
→
BetaKit
Technology & Policy Coverage
Writing on Canadian tech, AI governance, and the policy frameworks shaping digital sovereignty.
→
McGill-Queen's UP
Landscapes of Injustice
Chapter contribution on the dispossession of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
→

Projects

What I'm building.

From compliance tooling to historical research — projects focused on Canada's story and its future.

Current Focus · 2026

Upper Harbour

Technology sovereignty intelligence for Canadian organizations. Upper Harbour maps who controls the infrastructure Canada depends on — so organizations can prove compliance and policymakers can make informed decisions.

Visit Upper Harbour
693
SaaS tools mapped
63%
Under foreign jurisdiction
89%
CA-resident tools still CLOUD Act exposed
11%
Truly Canadian-owned

Landscapes of Injustice

A seven-year, SSHRC-funded research collaboration across Canadian universities examining the dispossession of Japanese Canadians during and after the Second World War.

Joshua wrote the project's public-facing narrative website and contributed a chapter to the published volume from McGill-Queen's University Press.

Read the narrative website → See the published volume → Project contributor page →

Project Details

Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. A multi-university partnership led by the University of Victoria, documenting the systematic dispossession of Japanese Canadians — their homes, businesses, and communities — and the lasting consequences of that injustice.

Contact

Get in touch.

Whether it's about AI policy, Canadian digital sovereignty, legal practice, or a shared interest in building things that matter — I'd welcome the conversation.

Email[email protected] LinkedInjoshuavanes X / Twitter@Joshuavanes Upper Harbourupperharbour.ca