The Canadian Quantum Ecosystem

by Amara Graps

Canada’s National Quantum Strategy (NQS)

It was a strategy that utilized extensive consultations to identify three key pillars of the strategy: research, talent development, and commercialization. After 2021, when the Government of Canada engaged with over 200 experts and stakeholders, including academics, industry representatives, and government, to understand Canada’s needs in quantum science, identify opportunities, and define priorities, the Canadian National Quantum Strategy was born. On January 13, 2023, the Canadian government chose the Perimeter Institute, the most famous physics institute in the world, to publicly announce the kickoff of their National Quantum Strategy (NQS).

Almost 2 years later, what is its status?

At the Quantum World Congress 2024, on October 15, 2024, in a succinct, 7-minute, update, Michael Rosenblatt, Director of the Federal Science and Technology Policy (FSTP) Directorate and National Quantum Strategy (NQS) Secretariat in Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), provided an update on the state of quantum development in Canada as part of the “National Quantum Updates” during the Global Collaboration track. Michael Rosenblatt’s group is responsible for horizontal federal Science and Technology policy, including policy development and co-ordination of the implementation of the NQS, both domestically and internationally. 

He first presented Canada’s three NQS Goals: 

1. Communicate: Canada’s commitment to supporting quantum science and technology to domestic players, international talent, and investors, as well as key allies with a keen interest in quantum.
2. Highlight: How past and current federal investments are advancing research, talent, commercialization, and security,
3. Define: Canada’s longer-term missions for the quantum sector that can leverage the country’s existing strengths to develop and commercialize key quantum technologies and inform current and potential future investments.

From the last point, he described the quantum technology Missions, which are also three in number:

1. Quantum Hardware and Software: Make Canada a world leader in the continued development, deployment, and use of quantum computing hardware and software- to the benefit of Canadian industry, governments, and citizens.
2. Quantum Communications: Ensure the privacy and cybersecurity of Canadians in a quantum-enabled world through a national secure quantum communications network and a post-quantum cryptography initiative.
3. Quantum sensors: Enable the Government of Canada and key industries to be developers and early adopters of new quantum sensing technologies.

Rosenblatt showed another slide about the distribution of the Canadian funding of $360M: ~$141M Research, ~$45M Talent, ~$169M Commercialization.

He then highlighted the four main quantum hubs, see the next Figure. 

Of Canadian Quantum Companies,  Rosenblatt listed:

• 100+ companies and non-profit organizations, 
• ~2600 quantum workers employed coast to coast in 2022, 
• 2nd global ranking in computing startups

With his slide providing additional useful statistics, these Canadian quantum companies are mostly SMEs, with 50% of them having fewer than 10 people. Another 20% of the companies have 10-19 employees, and 11% have 100 or more employees. The quantum companies are distributed relatively evenly among Quebec, Ontario, and the West. 

With these numbers in mind, in an October 15, 2024 Interview by Kyle Briggs, titled: A Blueprint for Canadian Deep Tech Leadership from Quantum Industry Canada (QIC) with Quantum Industry Canada CEO: Lisa Lambert said:

“We need to ensure Canada’s quantum sector has access to the capital needed to get across the valley of death.”  — Lisa Lambert (CEO / Quantum Industry Canada) 

Lisa Lambert’s perspective and Interview with Kyle Briggs is an excellent historical and business perspective of the Canadian Quantum Ecosystem from someone who has been inside of the Canadian quantum field for many years and participating in its growth. Canada is at a junction: 

“It’s crucial to recognize that what got us here is not going to get us there.” — Lisa Lambert (CEO / Quantum Industry Canada) 

First Steps of Canada’s Quantum Roadmap

Typically, national strategy goals set the direction, with Roadmaps providing the steps to achieve those goals. Rosenblatt’s presentation showed an Advisory Council co-chaired by Drs. Stephanie Simmons and Raymond Laflamme, to provide strategic direction and advice. To confirm that this is the sequence of steps for Canada, his slide stated that Roadmaps will inform priorities and potential future quantum investments.

Two recent publications point towards the first steps of such a Roadmap:

• CCA (Council of Canadian Academies). (2023). Quantum Potential, Ottawa (ON): Expert Panel on the Responsible Adoption of Quantum Technologies, CCA. https://cca-reports.ca/reports/quantum-technologies/ November 30, 2023, 283 pages. 
• Kristen Csenkey & Aniska Graver (26 Sep 2024): Canada’s national quantum strategy one year on, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, DOI: 10.1080/11926422.2024.2397970

These are first steps, only, however. The two documents are both critical of quantum technology for Canadians and about Canada’s NQS in particular. Either the 2021 consultations to develop the NQS did not include the CCA, or the CCA chose this step in the process, with a document nearly 300 pages long, of justifications and recommendations, to shape Canada’s Quantum Roadmap. 

The CCA paper:

• Discusses the potential impacts of quantum technologies on various sectors, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in their adoption and commercialization.
• Suggests Roadmaps developed elsewhere that might be a good model for Canada. 
• Identifies risks associated with regulatory capture, where regulations may favor select market players, potentially stifling competition, and innovation.
• Addresses the challenges in intellectual property (IP) management, noting that trade secret protections are popular but have limitations, such as vulnerability to reverse engineering. 
• The paper underscores the need for a responsible approach to adopting quantum technologies, considering social acceptability and ethical implications. 
• It highlights the role of public and private sectors in advancing quantum technologies, focusing on enabling conditions and potential levers for adoption.
• It reported [Table 3.2] a total low patent rate: 0.8% (Computing: 0.6%, Communications: 1.6%, Sensing 0.0%) for Canadian patents from 2000-2021, with ‘Share of Quantum-Related Patents by Headquarters Location. 

In a similar tone, the Csenkey and Graver, 2024, article describes the Canadian NQS overall as an economics strategy, while missing the societal effects, and suggest that Canada should therefore incorporate principles like sustainability and equity. 

Canada’s Quantum Ecosystem from GQI’s PESTEL analysis

GQI has adopted, and customized a PESTEL framework to analyze national quantum ecosystems, as I wrote earlier here. It incorporates the following dimensions:

1. Political: Policy (National initiatives, Quantum-specific); Collaboration (International partnerships, Bilateral agreements)
2. Economic: Funding (Regional programs, VC & Strategic investments); Institutions and Markets; End User Sectors (Life Sciences, Chemical & Materials, Advanced Industries, Financial Services, Energy & Infrastructure, Security & Defense, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity)
3. Social: Human Capital (BSc & MSc Programs, PhD Programs, Workforce); Support (Visa requirements, Startup-friendly environments, Relocation assistance)
4. Technological: Science (University research, post-grad sponsorship, Research output); Partners (Incubators/Accelerators, Startups, RTOs, Big Tech, Fabrication facilities, Suppliers)
5. Environmental: Mission Opportunities (Wind, CO2, Solar, Water, Electric, Hydrogen, Migration, Human Rights)
6. Legal: Law (IP, Patents, Litigation); Regulations (Standards, Export controls, Data residency); Traditions (Dual-Use, On-site requirements, Centralization)

On an International perspective, Canada is ranked at #12 out of 32, underneath Japan and Singapore and tied with Australia and Ireland. See the next Figure. Its best dimension is Social, where it is ranked #6 in the world underneath Finland and above Sweden. Its poorest dimension is Legal, where it is ranked #19 in the world underneath China, UAE, and Germany and tied with New Zealand and Italy. On the other Dimensions, Canada is ranked: Political: #10, Economic: #8, Technological: #10, Environmental: #16. 

Canada’s poor ranking for Legal is due to a variety of Export controls:

• New export controls on quantum computing and advanced semiconductor technology under the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA), effective July 20, 2024
• Requirement for export permits from Global Affairs Canada for certain quantum technologies, except to the United States
• Addition of five broad categories of quantum computing and semiconductor technology to Group 5 of the Export Control List
• Legal implications for disclosing technical data or assistance related to controlled quantum technologies to persons outside Canada
• Intellectual property considerations for quantum technologies, including patents, copyrights, and trade secrets

Therefore, an improvement in this dimension, along with the Environmental PESTEL dimension, would raise Canada’s Overall Quantum Ecosystem ranking. With Canada’s 2025 G7 Presidency, and with its new 2025 International Call-to-Action, a focus on these dimensions might be most effective.

(*) GQI’s Ecosystem PESTEL analysis is both an Outlook Report, and one of six Playbooks: Quantum Computing Hardware, Hardware Supply Chain, Ecosystem, Investor, China, and Strategy, which are interactive exploration and discovery tools. If you are interested to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact info@global-qi.com. 

October 28, 2024