Canada’s Quantum Sector Sets Sights on Commercialization

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Canada’s quantum sector has already demonstrated that it can produce world-class research, but the big question in 2026 is whether it can commercialize that research and translate it into strategic capabilities, sustainable companies, and technologies that customers can use.

The stakes extend beyond computing: Quantum sensing and communications are increasingly part of the conversation about sovereignty, while hardware developers face the engineering and financing challenges of building commercially useful quantum computers. Canada’s renewed defense focus offers a potential customer and development partner, but industry leaders want procurement, investment, and workforce development to move together.

The Canadian Quantum Champions Program, announced in December 2025, signaled that commitment. Its first phase provides up to C$92 million (~$64.5 million) in milestone-based contributions divided among Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic, and Xanadu to advance scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing. The new funding and benchmarking efforts are intended to help retain Canadian companies and intellectual property while testing their technical progress.

International attention is also growing around Canada’s quantum sector. Photonic, Xanadu, and Nord Quantique are participating in DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. The assessment of Canadian quantum architectures examines development roadmaps, scaling strategies, and costs—not simply qubit counts. The initiative aims to determine whether a system can deliver computational value that exceeds its cost by 2033.

By USHIO INC. 11.03.2026

By Chee Ping Lee, managing director of Advanced Packaging Strategic Marketing at Lam Research 11.03.2026

By EE Times Taiwan 11.03.2026

Defense procurement presents path to adoption

Canada’s Defense Industrial Strategy identifies quantum sensing, communications, and computing as sovereign capabilities. At an Empire Club discussion earlier this year, military and industry leaders emphasized deployment and procurement, including the need to connect companies with operational problems rather than wait for fully mature technologies.

Released in 2023, Quantum 2030—the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces’ quantum science and technology strategy implementation plan—sets out a roadmap for developing prototypes ready for field testing by 2030.

Julien Camirand Lemyre, CEO and co-founder of Sherbrooke-based Nord Quantique, sees defense as an adoption channel that can support earlier-stage development and create opportunities for Canadian suppliers. “How do we support earlier-stage-of-development technology that sometimes has been underfunded in Canada?” he asked. “I think [the Defense Industrial Strategy] is well-positioned to do just that.”

But purchasing equipment is only part of the task. “It is important for Canada to be prepared not only to buy quantum computers but also to use this technology,” he said.

That distinction matters because quantum technologies do not share one commercialization timetable. Julien Chosson, Canada quantum lead at IBM, describes quantum sensing as “probably the most mature technology,” while quantum computing has yet to translate into commercial applications. “It’s still part of the research path,” he said. Where defense can help computing, Chosson said, is by “helping build a stronger ecosystem. Until we have that, there is not much we’ll be able to develop for the defense sector on the quantum computing side.”

Jérôme Bourassa, CEO and co-founder of Sherbrooke-based Qubic Technologies, wants mission-focused programs for quantum sensing alongside support for computing. The Canadian Quantum Champions Program is “a good start,” he told EE Times. “I don’t think it’s enough, and I think I would like to see something similar but in other areas, so think about the defense-related technologies and quantum sensing in particular.”

Bourassa said companies need capital, closer ties with the Canadian Armed Forces, and government partners willing to tolerate technical risk. “Not everyone is going to win. Not everything is going to work.”

Qubic’s progress illustrates how procurement can bridge development and customer evaluation. In September, the company announced a federal contract worth up to C$1.5 million (~$1 million) to supply nine cryogenic amplifiers, along with components and software, for testing. The agreement follows its C$3.5 million (~$2.5 million) seed round in June and the sale of cryogenic amplifiers to Quantum Machines.

Capital meets the scaling challenge

For computing developers, commercial success depends on more than demonstrating quantum behavior. Error correction, cooling, connectivity, and manufacturing must come together at an economically workable scale.

Nord Quantique is tackling the overhead associated with quantum error correction. In most platforms, Camirand Lemyre said, error correction requires 100× to 1,000× more physical qubits. “This is how you end up with the need for a million qubits to get to a useful quantum computer.”

The company’s approach builds redundancy into individual bosonic qubits, aiming to reduce the additional hardware needed to protect quantum information. “What quantum error correction needs is not more qubits,” Camirand Lemyre said. “We need some form of redundancy.” Some competing systems will cost billions to build and will be the size of a data center, he said.

Camirand Lemyre specified that Nord Quantique’s goal is a useful system costing tens of millions of dollars and occupying a small room.

Qubic, which connects computing infrastructure with potential sensing and communications applications, addresses another constraint: extracting weak microwave signals without generating excessive noise or heat. Bourassa said Qubic’s superconducting amplifier is designed to dissipate roughly one ten-thousandth as much heat as conventional semiconductor amplifiers. Such semiconductor amplifiers can account for as much as half of a refrigerator’s cooling budget, he said.

He said reducing that heat load could free cooling capacity for additional qubits and improve the economics of superconducting systems. “If we can’t make a quantum computing infrastructure that is economically sound … it won’t happen,” Bourassa said.

In British Columbia, Photonic’s financing shows the scale of capital now assembling around quantum computing. The company’s final investment close in May expanded the round first announced in January to more than C$275 million (~$200 million) and brought its total capital raised to more than C$475 million (~$350 million). New participants included BDC, EDC, Bell Ventures, and InBC, alongside earlier investors including RBC, Telus, Microsoft, and BCI.

Photonic combines silicon spin qubits with optical connections in its Entanglement First architecture. Its strategy is to distribute quantum computation across interconnected modules, using connectivity to support scaling and efficient error correction. Its work with Telus also links quantum development to existing fiber infrastructure. These are pathways toward commercial-scale systems, not evidence that the end goal has already been reached.

Photonic’s latest proposal extends that scaling strategy into domestic manufacturing. Project Vanguard envisions a shared, multi-tenant semiconductor facility in Canada costing up to C$500 million (~$350.5 million) and serving quantum computing, AI, aerospace, defense, advanced sensing, and semiconductor packaging. Selected for the Canada Investment Summit Prospectus, the proposed facility is intended to help companies move from prototypes to production at home, retain greater control over intellectual property and supply chains, and build Canadian capacity in advanced fabrication, packaging, and technical workforce development.

Preparing users before the hardware arrives

Canada also needs organizations capable of identifying valuable problems, evaluating quantum approaches, and integrating them with classical computing.

Chosson said there is a difference between promising research and demonstrated commercial returns when it comes to IBM’s application development work: “We do not have an ROI yet. We do not have a demonstrated quantum advantage yet. We’re getting close and we have great research that’s very promising. It’s not been achieved yet.”

He said industry must bring economically relevant problems, while universities contribute expertise and train the people who will solve them. “Right now, the best way to do this is through industry-academia collaboration. All the talent is sitting in our academia, so we really need that collaboration to spark.”

The University of Saskatchewan’s acquisition of a quantum computer provides one model. Its open-architecture system combines a nine-qubit Rigetti processor with control and automation technology and a dilution refrigerator from Edmonton-based Zero Point Cryogenics. The university intends to connect the machine with expertise in vaccines, food security, energy, and other disciplines rather than treat it as an isolated quantum research tool.

Cloud access provides another route. CMC Microsystems’ Quantum Computing Sandbox, funded through the five-year, C$217 million (~$156 million) FABrIC program, combines supported access to quantum platforms with application expertise for Canadian researchers, startups, and small and midsized enterprises. The objective is to develop industry-relevant applications and practical experience without requiring every participant to build its own infrastructure.

In September, Quandela joined that effort through an agreement with CMC, adding a photonic computing option that includes access to a quantum processor located in Canada. The sandbox addresses an important adoption gap: Hardware access alone does not give users the expertise to judge where quantum computing might help.

Camirand Lemyre expects materials and molecular simulation to be among the first beneficiaries as useful hardware emerges. Nord Quantique is working with an OLED manufacturer interested in evaluating molecules before committing to laboratory testing. “It would be great if we could simulate those molecules before we actually have to spend all that time in the lab,” he said.

Chosson pointed to Canadian research in life sciences, energy, and finance while cautioning that these efforts remain exploratory.

Building a national quantum industry

The commercialization challenge also extends to Canada’s semiconductor sector.

FABrIC-backed photonics and quantum projects include Aeponyx’s development of low-loss silicon nitride photonic circuits for quantum applications under Pasqal’s ownership. Shared fabrication and packaging infrastructure can help turn specialized research into manufacturable components.

Rafal Janik, COO of Toronto-based Xanadu, argued that quantum investment also builds semiconductor capabilities through cleanrooms, tooling, packaging processes, and trained personnel. He sees those capabilities as valuable beyond any individual quantum architecture while calling for better national coordination to avoid duplicating work across institutions.

Coordination need not mean isolation. At UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, quantum-materials research and international collaboration connect Canadian expertise with partners in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere.

Camirand Lemyre similarly rejects a single-hub approach. Sherbrooke, Waterloo, Toronto, and British Columbia contribute different strengths, and Canada needs to build not only a pipeline of early-stage companies but the workforce needed for production and engineering as the industry matures, he said. “Whoever builds a quantum computer that is useful is a global company. … It’s not about one single hub; it’s really about building a national champion.”

For Bourassa, the remaining gap is the investment required to retain the value of decades of Canadian research. “Now it’s a matter of how we make sure that we can create the best possible value from all the research investment that has been done over the past several decades in Canada and making sure that it is retained in Canada,” he said.

Government support has been good and instrumental, but Bourassa said it could be a lot better in the future as international competition intensifies. Commercialization requires a further commitment to companies, infrastructure, and talent, he added.

Camirand Lemyre echoed that concern: “We have not been a country that is known to take large risk on their companies.” Canada’s next test is whether its funding programs, procurement opportunities, and shared facilities can sustain that transition—not merely supporting discovery but also keeping the resulting capabilities and economic value at home.

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