Market watchers may know some of the hottest (and most volatile) stocks this year have been those of quantum computer developers, including D-Wave Quantum Inc. QBTS-N<\/a>, founded in Burnaby, B.C. Quantum companies have raised record amounts of capital in 2025, and there\u2019s been a pickup in mergers and acquisitions. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Bridget Walshe, associate head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. During a panel at the Quantum Now conference in Montreal this June, Ms. Walshe said that the time to act to quantum-proof critical infrastructure is now.Supplied<\/p>\n Then there is Nvidia Corp. NVDA-Q<\/a> chief executive officer Jensen Huang, who said in January that he didn\u2019t expect quantum computers to be \u201cvery useful\u201d for 15 to 20 years. By June, the tech demigod had changed his mind. \u201cThere\u2019s an inflection point happening,\u201d he said in a speech, adding that quantum computing would solve \u201csome interesting problems in the coming years.\u201d This week Silicon Valley quantum computing startup PsiQuantum said it would collaborate with Nvidia to develop its technology and that the GPU giant is also an investor.<\/p>\n \u201cQuantum is definitely having a moment,\u201d says Lisa Lambert, CEO of Quantum Industry Canada, host of the June conference, which attracted 400 attendees \u2013 100 more than expected \u2013 including investors, suppliers, clients, and mandarins from Canada and around the world.<\/p>\n That\u2019s true. It\u2019s also true that the surge in investor interest comes with some uncertainty about how soon quantum technology will yield big returns \u2013 or if it ever will. Metaphorically, the entire industry, including Canada\u2019s robust contingent, resembles Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s Cat of quantum physics fame: simultaneously teeming with opportunity and clouded by doubts as to whether it can deliver.<\/p>\n \t\t Canada\u2019s quantum industry landscape<\/p>\n An analysis of 104 Canadian firms that have a role in developing the quantum computing sector, as of August, 2025<\/p>\n NUMBER OF FIRMS BY MAIN FOCUS AREA<\/p>\n Enabling tech<\/p>\n and components<\/p>\n Communications<\/p>\n and networking<\/p>\n Post-quantum<\/p>\n cybersecurity<\/p>\n Quantum computing<\/p>\n software<\/p>\n Quantum computing<\/p>\n hardware<\/p>\n Note: Some companies attributed to more than one focus area.<\/p>\n THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE:<\/p>\n QUANTUM INDUSTRY CANADA<\/p>\n \t\t Canada\u2019s quantum industry landscape<\/p>\n An analysis of 104 Canadian firms that have a role in developing the quantum computing sector, as of August, 2025<\/p>\n NUMBER OF FIRMS BY MAIN FOCUS AREA<\/p>\n Enabling tech<\/p>\n and components<\/p>\n Communications<\/p>\n and networking<\/p>\n Post-quantum<\/p>\n cybersecurity<\/p>\n Quantum computing<\/p>\n software<\/p>\n Quantum computing<\/p>\n hardware<\/p>\n Note: Some companies attributed to more than one focus area.<\/p>\n THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: QUANTUM INDUSTRY CANADA<\/p>\n \t\t Canada\u2019s quantum industry landscape<\/p>\n An analysis of 104 Canadian firms that have a role in developing the quantum computing sector, as of August, 2025<\/p>\n NUMBER OF FIRMS BY MAIN FOCUS AREA<\/p>\n Enabling tech and components<\/p>\n Communications and networking<\/p>\n Post-quantum cybersecurity<\/p>\n Quantum computing hardware<\/p>\n Quantum computing hardware<\/p>\n Note: Some companies attributed to more than one focus area.<\/p>\n THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: QUANTUM INDUSTRY CANADA<\/p>\n Quantum-computer developers may be just five to 10 years away from getting machines to commercial scale, as many quantum proponents insist \u2013 or decades away, as skeptics have long maintained, given the hurdles ahead to make the hardware work reliably and cost-effectively. A U.S. government competition aims to determine if they can be built by 2033. Three Canadian companies are in the running. An estimated 500 clients, including banks, automakers and pharmaceutical companies, are already testing the technology.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s leadership in quantum computing positions the country to benefit economically \u2013 but also makes it vulnerable to being sidelined or denuded in a global race. That\u2019s happened before in breakthrough fields Canada pioneered. While Canada pledged in 2021 to spend $360-million on a quantum strategy focused on research, many countries have committed billions of dollars toward building industries. Illinois alone is outspending Canada; Governor J.B. Pritzker is determined to turn Chicago into the Silicon Valley of quantum. Maryland Governor Wes Moore has similar aims.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada doesn\u2019t need more Nobel Prizes,\u201d says Stephanie Simmons, founder and chief quantum officer of Coquitlam, B.C.-based quantum computer developer Photonic Inc., alluding to artificial intelligence<\/a> pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, the celebrated University of Toronto professor whose breakthroughs primarily benefited U.S. tech giants. Prizes, she says, \u201cwon\u2019t move the needle for us as a country. Let\u2019s make markets, let\u2019s grow the income tax base. If we want to win globally, we have a clear shot on goal.\u201d Industry leadership, she adds, \u201cis ours to lose but also ours to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Quantum Now, a conference for the emerging quantum technology space, was held in Montreal this June, bringing together leaders in the growing industry. Canada\u2019s leadership in quantum computing positions the country to benefit economically, but also makes it vulnerable to being sidelined in a global innovation race.<\/p>\n Jean-Michel Naud\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Evan Solomon, Canada\u2019s Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, has heard the concerns. He\u2019s promising a re-upped quantum strategy this fall. The plan, he said during an interview, \u201cwill make sure Canada is competitive with any program in the world and will ensure that Canadian companies that are leaders in quantum stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s first AI Minister Evan Solomon on his plan to scale up the industry<\/a><\/p>\n Yet, the advances the technology could bring are twinned with dread. That\u2019s because quantum computers could enable bad actors to pick the locks on cryptography algorithms that secure the world\u2019s digital economy. Canada\u2019s intelligence and defence establishment have recognized the threat for years. <\/p>\n \u201cThis could happen as early as in the 2030s,\u201d says Bridget Walshe, associate head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, during a panel at the Quantum Now conference. She said that the time to act to quantum-proof critical infrastructure is now.<\/p>\n Mr. Solomon agrees. \u201cWe\u2019re past the tipping point on whether countries need to bet big on quantum,\u201d he says. For security, sovereignty and commercial reasons, he adds, \u201cyou have to.\u201d<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Senior scientist Tomohiro Nakamura works in the lab at Xanadu Quantum Technologies\u2019 Toronto office on Sept 8. Xanadu\u2019s technology utilizes qubits, tiny superconducting circuits, coded into flashes of laser light \u2013 an approach that lessens the demand for cryogenic cooling.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n How to build a quantum computer<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a century since theorists such as Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr worked out the principles of what was then called \u201cthe new physics.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in 1925, the goal was to explain how nature behaves at the smallest scale. To the shock of the pioneers of quantum physics, they found that doing so required accepting a strange version of reality in which particles can be in more than one place at the same time or can act as though they\u2019re connected even when separated by large distances.<\/p>\n Even Albert Einstein was perplexed by the implications. But quantum theory has since proved remarkably effective at describing real-world technologies such as semiconductors and lasers. More recently, scientists have sought to leverage the quantum characteristics of matter and light to develop a new class of computers.<\/p>\n Clearest signal yet rattles gravitational wave detector at risk from Trump budget cut<\/a><\/p>\n A conventional computer contains billions of microelectronic switches that manipulate bits of information \u2013 the 1s and 0s that make up our digital world.<\/p>\n A quantum computer, by comparison, runs on qubits. They can be tiny superconducting circuits, ions trapped in electromagnetic fields or beams of light that are oriented in different ways, among other possibilities. What they have in common is that they are physical systems that can exist in two possible states. That means they can be used in a computer to represent 1 or 0. But thanks to the weird rules of quantum physics, they can also exist as a mix of both.<\/p>\n When many qubits are linked together, this added flexibility can make quantum computers incredibly fast at performing certain kinds of calculations, including some that would take conventional processors millions of years to complete.<\/p>\n The standard example is encryption. Digital information is typically kept secure using a protocol called RSA, which involves locking up information with a cryptographic key derived from multiplying two massive prime numbers. <\/p>\n For a conventional computer, discovering the key is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack \u2013 trying one possible answer after another, making the problem effectively unsolvable. With a quantum computer, qubits can interact to suppress incorrect possibilities. The haystack cancels itself out, leaving the needle in plain sight. <\/p>\n Quantum computer components are tested at Xanadu\u2019s Toronto office.<\/p>\n Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Not all tasks that computers perform can be accelerated in this way. But there are enough potential applications to make quantum computers an exciting commercial prospect. These include modelling financial risks, solving optimization problems (such as improving traffic flow or factory production lines), and simulating the behaviour of molecules to discover medicines or better batteries, for example.<\/p>\n Paul Terry, CEO of Photonic, believes chemistry will be where quantum computing first makes its mark. \u201cWe can\u2019t do chemistry very well on supercomputers,\u201d Mr. Terry says during a panel at Quantum Now. \u201cChemistry is a quantum problem.\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s possible the killer app of quantum hasn\u2019t yet been conceived, says Rafal Janik, chief operating officer of Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc. of Toronto, on the same panel. He adds that 70 years ago futurists weren\u2019t thinking about Facebook or Tinder when envisioning what computers would be used for. What we can imagine today for quantum, he says, is \u201cnot the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Nord Quantique CEO Julien Camirand-Lemyre shows off a qubit at the company\u2019s lab in Sherbrooke, Que.Evan Buhler\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n But there are many challenges. Qubits typically have to be isolated from the slightest disturbance to maintain their quantum state. Most systems require elaborate cryogenic facilities to minimize vibrations and keep qubits at temperatures colder than deep space. Quantum computers are still far from operating at commercial scale.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, big tech players, including International Business Machines Corp. IBM-N<\/a>, Google GOOGL-Q<\/a>, Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q<\/a> and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN-Q<\/a> have invested heavily toward building the computers. So have startups, including United States-based Quantinuum, IonQ Inc., and Rigetti Computing Inc., and at least six Canadian groups, including Photonic and Xanadu.<\/p>\n So far, no single approach has emerged as the front-runner. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still widespread enough interest in quantum computing \u2013 and yet it\u2019s far enough in the future \u2013 that people are willing to invest money in lots of different ideas in hopes that one will win out,\u201d says Daniel Gottesman, a quantum physicist at the University of Maryland.<\/p>\n Canada: quantum trailblazer<\/p>\n Canada was an early mover in quantum, in part because of timely bets by one of the country\u2019s most successful entrepreneurs and by public sector funders.<\/p>\n Research in Motion Ltd. co-founder Mike Lazaridis funded the creation of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo in 2002 (later supported by government funding). In 2013 he established Quantum Valley Investments, which has backed local startups. <\/p>\n Waterloo, Ont., is also home to Open Quantum Design, a federally funded not-for-profit IQC spinoff working to develop an open source quantum computer to help academic and industry groups commercialize their ideas. <\/p>\n British Columbia\u2019s Lower Mainland is another Canadian quantum hot spot. Burnaby-based D-Wave, founded in 1999, has long billed itself as building the world\u2019s first commercial quantum computer maker. The caveat is that its machines exploit a particular effect, quantum annealing, that narrows the kinds of problems they can solve.<\/p>\n The region is also home to the University of British Columbia\u2019s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, quantum software maker 1QBit and Photonic. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Stephanie Simmons, founder and chief quantum officer of Coquitlam, B.C.-based quantum computer developer Photonic Inc.Tijana Martin\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Photonic\u2019s founder, Stephanie Simmons, grew up in the Waterloo area and decided to devote her life to quantum computing after learning about IQC. But when it came time to set up her company, she chose the Vancouver area, believing it was a great place to recruit talent. Photonic\u2019s quantum computer uses silicon spin qubits \u2013 electrons caged inside a silicon chip and linked by light \u2013 an approach she says can integrate with telecommunications infrastructure.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in Canada, the University of Calgary has partnered with the Alberta government and industry to create its Quantum City technology hub, while the University of Toronto\u2019s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) accelerator has helped get quantum companies up and running. <\/p>\n A leading example is Xanadu, founded by Australian-born Christian Weedbrook, who came to Toronto in 2010 to complete his postdoctoral research and stayed to launch his startup. Xanadu\u2019s technology utilizes qubits coded into flashes of laser light \u2013 an approach that lessens the demand for cryogenic cooling.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, one of the country\u2019s most active quantum areas is the University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec, which opened an IQC-inspired Institut quantique in 2016. It has helped to launch several startups, including quantum computer maker Nord Quantique, whose technology is based on microwaves that bounce around within ultracold aluminum cavities. <\/p>\n The biggest foreign player here is IBM, which operates an experimental-scale quantum computer in Bromont, Que. The Australian-born head of IBM\u2019s quantum computing initiative, Jay Gambetta, did postdoctoral work at IQC.<\/p>\n Dany Lachance-Quirion, left, and Chlo\u00e9 Gauvin-Ndiaye discuss a their quantum computing project at Nord Quantique\u2019s lab in Sherbrooke. Nord Quantique is a quantum computer maker whose technology is based on microwaves that bounce around within ultracold aluminum cavities.<\/p>\n Evan Buhler\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Progress and prudence<\/p>\n Like a juggler balanced on a high wire, the biggest challenge for any quantum computer is that one or more of its qubits will topple out of their quantum state and cause an error. To guard against this, quantum systems must be \u201cfault tolerant.\u201d This means dedicating many more qubits to keep a check on those doing the actual calculating.<\/p>\n What has changed is the emergence of new strategies for correcting errors<\/a> that require fewer qubits than once anticipated. This has raised hopes that commercially useful systems are now closer to becoming reality, shifting the sector from looking like a collection of science projects to an industrial wellspring.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Mr. Weedbrook, founder of Xanadu, says his company will open a quantum data centre by 2029.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n \u201cNow the exciting part \u2013 and why this is very real \u2013 is the acceleration of the cycles of learning from an engineering perspective,\u201d says Jerry Chow, director of quantum systems for IBM, who is based in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.<\/p>\n As an example, IBM said in June that its next major milestone is a quantum computer called Starling that it aims to complete by 2029. The machine will consist of 10,000 \u201cphysical\u201d qubits that work collectively to tamp down errors and operate as 200 \u201clogical\u201d qubits when performing calculations. While this is still modest compared to what developers envision will be needed to spark a true quantum revolution, it is enough to explore early niches in which a quantum system may offer advantages over conventional computers.<\/p>\n Other companies are operating on similar timelines. Xanadu\u2019s Christian Weedbrook says his Toronto company will open a quantum data centre by 2029 with hundreds of fault tolerant qubits \u201csolving big problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Specialists who work in the field tend to say that the scientific challenge of creating a quantum computer has now evolved into an engineering problem more directly related to bringing the technology to fruition. At Xanadu, Rafal Janik takes it a step further, saying the challenge will soon be about manufacturing hardware at the scale needed for commercial deployment.<\/p>\n But as progress continues, it\u2019s also the case that conventional systems powered by AI are improving too and increasingly making gains that may reduce some of the need for quantum systems. One case in point: Montreal-based startup Kothar Computing last month unveiled a platform that it says can simplify and speed up numerical simulations of the kind that quantum computers are still far from tackling effectively.<\/p>\n Promise of quantum computing requires new forms of protection<\/a><\/p>\n Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall\u2019s censorship technology<\/a><\/p>\n Nevertheless, quantum computers can\u2019t be ignored, because they have the potential to render conventional cybersecurity obsolete.<\/p>\n Many experts fear encrypted data is already being harvested for later unlocking by quantum computers. That poses \u201ca significant threat to the global financial system,\u201d the Basel-based Bank of International Settlements said in a July report. In 2024, Canada\u2019s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions issued a technology risk bulletin on quantum readiness to this country\u2019s financial institutions. <\/p>\n Mattia Montagna, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Quantum Bridge Technologies Inc. notes that the typical turnaround time for a large organization to upgrade its digital network is six to seven years. Even if there\u2019s only a slim chance that a quantum computer will break RSA encryption within that period, the implications are immediate.<\/p>\n \u201cRegulation will probably impose quantum security as a requirement by 2031-2032,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re renovating anything that needs to survive beyond that point, it should be quantum safe.\u201d <\/p>\n Beyond qubits: quantum sensors<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say when quantum computers will reach commercial scale, but a new tech sector is already blooming. The same physics and engineering needed to manipulate qubits is suited to other purposes. Quantum sensors \u2013 devices that can discern tiny effects and signals in the environment \u2013 are leading the nascent quantum economy.<\/p>\n One example can be found at SBQuantum. The Sherbrooke startup has developed a magnetometer that uses quantum effects in synthetic diamonds to measure the direction and orientation of the Earth\u2019s magnetic field. The device is more compact and versatile than conventional hardware and usable in space.<\/p>\n When CEO David Roy-Guay founded SBQuantum in 2017, he says, \u201cmy dream was to get quantum technologies out into the field. Now we\u2019re at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n Next year, the company\u2019s hardware will be launched into orbit as one of three finalists in the U.S. government\u2019s MagQuest Challenge. The goal is to find cheaper, better ways to measure and update a global model of the Earth\u2019s magnetic field \u2013 a model used by navigation systems and smartphones. <\/p>\n If the device proves itself, it will bolster SBQuantum\u2019s goal to provide commercially or scientifically relevant magnetic data for customers operating in space, underwater, at mining sites or elsewhere.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n SBQuantum developed a magnetometer that is more compact and versatile than conventional hardware, and usable in space.ALEXIS AUBIN\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Qubic Technologies, co-located in Sherbrooke and Waterloo, is exploiting quantum information principles for communications and surveillance. <\/p>\n Among its applications is a form of quantum radar that can spot interlopers without revealing its own presence. This is different from conventional radar systems, which blast out powerful and easily spotted microwave signals to pick up reflections from distant objects.<\/p>\n Qubic\u2019s technology generates distinct, complementary pairs of photons \u2013 particles of microwave energy light. One particle per pair is recorded at the source and one is sent out. Normally, a single returning photon would be lost in the noise. Qubic\u2019s system can compare those photons with the ones it recorded to identify matching pairs. <\/p>\n The company is working with the Department of National Defence to develop the technology for Arctic surveillance. It\u2019s an example of quantum technology\u2019s \u201cdual-use\u201d or utility for commercial and military buyers. This is one reason why many countries are committing billions to develop their own quantum capabilities.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n David Roy-Guay, CEO and co-founder of SBQuantum, prepares a drone which will be deployed to conduct advanced magnetic surveys for the mining industry.ALEXIS AUBIN\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n The amazing quantum race <\/p>\n The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is conducting a high-stakes competition to determine if quantum computers are the real deal. Canada is well-represented. <\/p>\n DARPA in April announced that three Canadian companies \u2013 Xanadu, Photonic and Nord Quantique \u2013 were among 18 groups from five countries that qualified for the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). Another group led by Hewlett Packard Labs includes Vancouver software developer 1QBit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a novel program from the agency that funded the creation of GPS and the internet that challenges participants to prove by 2033 that their machines will work at industrial scale. Participants in the first six-month stage will get US$1-million each if DARPA believes their plans are plausible. Those groups that succeed have a year to describe their research and development plans, and qualify for another US$15-million.<\/p>\n Independent verification and validation teams from U.S. federal labs and research institutions will then test their technology. That\u2019s where the real money is. DARPA could pay up to US$300-million per winner \u2013 if the winner raises matching funds. That shouldn\u2019t be difficult: Finishers will be seen as front-runners in the global quantum race. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n An artist’s concept of manned and unmanned combat aerial vehicles operating together using technology from DARPA\u2019s Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements program. In April, DARPA announced that three Canadian companies qualified for the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.Colie Wertz\/DARPA<\/p>\n Making it into QBI is a big deal but puts Canadian participants in an awkward position. The brightest minds in the U.S. government will poke and prod them \u2013 as will teams from research institutes tasked by DARPA to help, housed at universities that hope to become quantum centres in their own right.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. has guaranteed they will have enduring, extensive technical and business insights into the winning quantum technologies and how best to control\u201d them, says Photonic\u2019s Stephanie Simmons. \u201cCanada should have its own separate diligence on what is up from down in quantum so they can place the adequate investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Investors take the quantum leap<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/files\/graphics\/rb-cd-quantum\/rb-cd-quantum-mobile-small.png?token=1\")
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