As with artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technology holds much promise for, well just about everything, including the space sector. And while Canada had a good start in the AI sector, others have caught up. With quantum technology, the government wants Canada to be in the lead.
To add momentum to this nascent technology, Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, announced in Toronto yesterday an investment of up to $92 million for phase 1 of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program (CQCP). The CQCP is a part of the larger $334.4 million five year investment announced in the budget for quantum technologies.
For this funding round, the government is focused on advancing “toward fault-tolerant, industrial-scale quantum computers capable of solving real-world problems across industries.”
A fault-tolerant quantum computer is a quantum computer designed to operate correctly even in the presence of errors. It can continue performing computations accurately, despite errors that may occur in its quantum bits (qubits) or operations, by using error correction techniques built into its architecture.
Recipients of today’s funding are Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic and Xanadu Quantum Technologies who will each receive up to $23 million each.
Anyon Systems is headquartered in Montreal but also has quantum nanofabrication site in Waterloo. Founded in 2014, then company says it “is the first Canadian company manufacturing gate-based quantum computing platform for universal quantum computation”
Nord Quantique is based in Sherbrooke and focuses on quantum computing error correction and are developing fault tolerant quantum computers.
Photonic is based in Vancouver is a commercial-scale, distributed, fault-tolerant quantum computing and networking through its Entanglement First™ architecture, which leverages optically-linked silicon spin qubits for unmatched connectivity and scalability.
Xanadu Quantum Technologies is based in Toronto and recently announced it was going public as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) through Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: CHAC). The company was founded in 2016 and has raised USD$275 million to date. The company is known for their Xanadu’s PennyLane software which has wide adoption. We covered the company when it was part of the RBC FutureMakers Showcases in 2018.
Also part of the announcement was the establishment of a Benchmarking Quantum Platform to be undertaken by the National Research Council of Canada. This initiative will provide “expert assessment of the underlying quantum technologies, working closely with the companies.”
The CQCP is also in support of the upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy. Minister of National Defence David J. McGuinty said, “By investing in quantum technologies, Canada will strengthen domestic innovation, build domestic capabilities and enhance interoperability. Today’s investment will help build a modern, innovative, and competitive defence ecosystem that creates good jobs, drives growth, and strengthens security for all Canadians. This is not just an investment in technology; it is an investment in national security for decades to come.”
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