Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Xanadu, says Canada is a global player in the quantum computing sector.Thomas Bollmann
In 2022, Toronto’s Xanadu set itself apart in the global quantum computing race by achieving quantum supremacy, a feat previously accomplished only by Google and China’s University of Science and Technology.
To achieve quantum supremacy, organizations must build a quantum computer that can solve a specific problem exponentially faster than the most advanced classical supercomputer available today.
“What we demonstrated was this math problem, which would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputer at the time seven million years to solve, our quantum computer – that we call Borealis – solved within two minutes,” says Christian Weedbrook, Xanadu’s founder and chief executive officer. “That shows you the promise and power of quantum computers. The next step is to do that for important business problems, which we and others in the industry are working towards.”
Those business problems, according to Mr. Weedbrook, could range from new drug discoveries to cybersecurity defences and battery technology. (Xanadu has partnered with numerous automakers – including Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche and Rolls Royce.)
We’ve got this incredible portfolio of trail-blazing companies in this space.
— Lisa Lambert, CEO, Quantum Industry Canada
The startup, which was founded in 2016 and now employs 210 staff, is also responsible for PennyLane, one of the most popular software stacks for quantum computers in the world. Xanadu is just one member of Canada’s growing quantum industry, which continues to punch well above its weight class in the rapidly developing tech category.
“Globally, it’s a player, for sure,” says Mr. Weedbrook, who first studied in his native Australia, before pursuing postdoctoral research fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later, University of Toronto, adding that the city just “felt right.”
“We’re really doing a brain-gain; about 50 per cent of our staff are from overseas, me included,” he says. “The Canadian government has invested a lot of money over the last couple of decades, there’s lots of resources here, and great talent that we have been able to draw upon.”
Unlike traditional computing, which leans on the laws of physics to manipulate data, quantum technologies use quantum mechanics, giving it entirely new capabilities. While quantum computing is the most recognized application, the same technology can also be utilized to develop unique and sophisticated “quantum sensors,” “quantum communications” and “quantum materials.”
“It’s still the very early days,” says Ray Laflamme, a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Waterloo “It’s just in the last five years, approximately, that people are starting to look at real problems in the real world that quantum computers could solve, and we’re seeing companies from Goldman Sachs to the Cleveland Clinic develop small groups of quantum computing people.”
Mr. Laflamme says Canada owes its head start in quantum computing to a combination of public and private investment, which began at a time when the technology was largely just theoretical.
On the private side, much of the funds were provided by Research in Motion co-founder Mike Lazaridis, who helped establish the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo in 2001.
Mr. Lazaridis and wife Ophelia donated $33.3-million and helped the university obtain two-to-one matching donations from other sources, bringing total funding up to $100-million by 2004. Mr. Lazaridis contributed another $100-million alongside BlackBerry co-founder Doug Fregin in 2013 to help commercialize the technology.
“That really helped Canada establish itself as an early adopter of a very new field,” says Mr. Laflamme, who was installed by Mr. Lazaridis as director of IQC in 2002.
To further build on that momentum, the Government of Canada established a National Quantum Strategy (NQS) in early 2023. “That group is helping to establish a strategy, [which is] really based on three things,” says Mr. Laflamme, who co-chaired the NQS advisory council. “One is to ensure the science continues to be developed, then training people, and third is developing the economic side of the quantum industry.”
According to Quantum Industry Canada, a national trade group for quantum technology companies, the industry now counts 70 businesses coast-to-coast, mostly small and medium sized startups. Together they employ roughly 2,600, making it the second largest player in the industry globally after the United States, and first on a per-capita basis.
“We’ve got this incredible portfolio of trail-blazing companies in this space, and the talent that’s here has been really incredible as well,” says Lisa Lambert, the organization’s CEO. “With its 40 million people, Canada is also in a sweet spot for size, where we can be co-ordinating, collaborating and leveraging our different strengths across the country, which can be a lot more challenging in other jurisdictions.”
Ms. Lambert says Canada is in a unique position to capitalize on the developing technology because of our culture, proximity to the United States and trade agreements with key global partners.
“There will be things that businesses need to pay attention to on this front within the next five years,” she says. “A lot of the use cases are still being developed, so for now, it’s really about co-development, especially on the computing side.”