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\t \t The CPFC \u201ccan be a real foundry and be an anchor player,\u201d said Hamid Arabzadeh, CEO of Ottawa-based Ranovus. The company buys parts from the CPFC for its optical connectors, which move<\/a> information between chips in data centres. As a commercial operation, it could become \u201can anchor Canadian source for lasers in the world,\u201d Arabzadeh said. He added that possible markets beyond data centres include radar, sensors and autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n CPFC clients have said the facility can\u2019t offer the same contract terms as a purely commercial plant, forcing them to either secure additional suppliers or move their business elsewhere as they grow. Private capital could help the plant address those issues, expand capacity and enter new product lines, they say.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is one of the few countries that can go from ground to chip,\u201d said Kelly Daize, executive director of the Kanata North Business Association, citing domestic deposits of critical minerals used in semiconductors, as well as manufacturing facilities. She added that \u201cbuilding a sovereign semiconductor supply chain is essential\u201d to meet rising global demand for photonics from the AI, quantum and defence sectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the CPFC is located in Ottawa\u2019s northeast, many firms to the west in Kanata already use the plant, and the association has pushed for the spinout and provided input to the business case for commercialization that the council commissioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith what we\u2019re seeing with the AI boom, it feels like the perfect opportunity for Canada to lean into our strengths in photonics,\u201d said Jenna Sudds, the member of Parliament for Kanata, who has also advocated for CPFC to be spun out.\u00a0<\/p>\n By combining the facility with local technology design centres, the region can \u201cdramatically shorten innovation cycles, moving from concept to fabrication faster,\u201d said Terry Matthews, chair of investment firm Wesley Clover International and founder of telecom equipment company Mitel. Matthews added the move would help the region compete internationally.<\/p>\n Potential buyers and backers are already lining up. Ranovus is interested in taking the facility over or taking a stake, and has discussed the project with investors, Arabzadeh said. He estimated it would cost a few hundred million dollars to scale up the CPFC and make it more globally competitive. Ottawa has yet to release terms of the spin-out process, or disclose financial information that would inform a bid.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. private equity funds have previously shown interest in investing in the CPFC. The government\u2019s spin-out process will require Canadian control over the facility once it is privatized, according to Sudds. \u201cIt\u2019s top of the list to ensure it remains a sovereign asset.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Matthews similarly said it\u2019s critical that Canadian-owned firms \u201chave the opportunity to invest in and help shape this facility, ensuring it is built, scaled, and operated in Canada for long-term national advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n The council opened<\/a> the CPFC in May 2005, buying<\/a> much of its equipment and infrastructure from telecom equipment firm Nortel, which was headed for bankruptcy. The federal government has added some capital funding over the years, including $90 million in February 2022 to pay<\/a> for a new building and reactors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government will privatize a publicly owned semiconductor plant that technology executives and investors say could be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[439,17,143,14504,2134],"class_list":{"0":"post-31953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-federal-government","11":"tag-semiconductors","12":"tag-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\t![\"Innovation](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Francois_Philippe_Champagne_Canadian_Photonics_Fabrication_Centre-Ottawa_Feb_2022-P_Justin_Tang-CP15.jpeg\")
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\n\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Teledyne_plant-Bromont_Quebec-Roger_Lemoyne_The_Logic-1920x1280-1-768x512.jpeg\")
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