The NRC\u2019s Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre is the only end-to-end, pure-play compound semiconductor facility in North America.<\/p>\n
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The federal government is working on spinning out the National Research Council of Canada\u2019s (NRC) Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC) into a \u201ccommercial entity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly announced the intended spinoff at a reception for the CHIPS NORTH semiconductor conference in Ottawa on Monday evening, saying in a statement that the spinout \u201cwill strengthen Canada\u2019s leadership in photonics innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will attract private-sector investment and create new opportunities for Canadian companies to expand the development of critical technologies that protect our sovereignty and drive productivity and economic growth,\u201d Joly said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Established in Ottawa in 2005, the NRC says that the CPFC is the only end-to-end, pure-play compound semiconductor facility in North America. Compound semiconductors can transport data faster than traditional silicon chips, making them better suited for powering 5G and 6G telecommunications networks, autonomous vehicles, and quantum computing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear when the spinout will take place, what the ownership structure will look like, or how the CPFC\u2019s operations will differ once completed.<\/p>\n
The private capital from the spinout will help scale the CPFC\u2019s operations, expand Canada\u2019s supply chain of photonic manufacturing capabilities, and provide more effective and timely services to Canada\u2019s small and medium-sized AI and quantum businesses, according to an NRC news release.<\/p>\n
The spinout plan builds on Budget 2025\u2019s commitment<\/a> to \u201cexplore options\u201d that make the CPFC more attractive to private capital and turn it into an innovation platform.<\/p>\n Historically, the CPFC has worked with clients to design, test, and fabricate their chip designs, but some industry leaders<\/a> have recommended spinning out the CPFC. Some have even compared doing so<\/a> to Taiwan\u2019s support of silicon semiconductor fabricator TSMC in the 1980s. TSMC is now the largest contract chipmaker in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a policy memo for Build Canada<\/a> this past October, Cohere co-founder Ivan Zhang said that Canada\u2019s \u201cworld-class\u201d compound semiconductor fabrication facility could be \u201ca key part of advanced technology supply chains,\u201d but that it had been underinvested in for two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cThink of it like having one of the world\u2019s only airplane factories capable of achieving supersonic flight but only ever building prototypes, never selling jets,\u201d Zhang wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n