What will set the advanced manufacturing facility apart is its scale and function, said Xanadu founder and chief executive Christian Weedbrook. (Credit: Galit Rodan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The federal government is investing $195 million in Toronto-based Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc.’s advanced manufacturing facilities to help it build a quantum data centre and boost Canada’s cutting-edge technology supply chain, Ottawa announced on Friday.
The $195 million is the largest-ever government investment in Canadian quantum manufacturing. The funds will come from Canada’s Strategic Response Fund, which supports large-scale projects in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies and will be administered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
“Quantum technology represents a significant opportunity for Canada’s economy and sovereignty,” Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement on Friday.
“By supporting advanced manufacturing here at home, the government of Canada is aiding in reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers, while building the skilled workforce and research partnerships needed to compete globally,” she said.
The federal investment in Xanadu will strengthen Canada’s position in quantum, a technology that is poised to shape the future of computing, AI and cybersecurity, AI Minister Evan Solomon said in the statement.
Xanadu will use the government funds to build launch a 158,000-square-foot manufacturing and research and development facility named Inception. The plant will be designed to produce, package and assemble the photonic hardware that will make up its quantum data centre and can also be used in AI hardware, telecommunications and sensing technologies. The first phase of the facility is set to be completed by mid-2027 with additional capabilities coming online over the next five years.
What sets the facility apart is its scale and function, said Xanadu founder and chief executive Christian Weedbrook.
“A few Canadian facilities work in photonic packaging and fabrication across Canada but they are operating at a different scale,” he said. “When Inception is fully built out, it’s expected to be the largest commercial-scale photonics manufacturing facility of its kind in Canada” and among a handful in the world.
The ability to carry out large-scale photonic manufacturing will help Xanadu scale its hardware production to build out its quantum data centre — which Weedbrook wants to complete by 2030 — and also enable it to tap potential clients from other sectors.
“Our track record points to the kinds of industries that quantum will touch,” Weedbrook said, noting that the company has already worked with international companies such as Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. Group and Corning Inc., defence and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. and semiconductor titan Advanced Micro Devices Inc.