Canada is a global leader in quantum technology development, and it is well-positioned to secure its role in the growing quantum sector. Quantum technologies are new and developing technologies that are based on the unique qualities of quantum mechanics—the science that deals with nature’s physical properties at the atomic and subatomic levels. Quantum technology will alter computers, communications, encryption, and many more fields in the future. They will be very powerful, with capabilities far beyond those of today’s technology.
The National Research Council of Canada has highlighted quantum technology as a $142 billion opportunity that may employ 229,000 Canadians by 2040. Canada might reap significant economic and social advantages from the fast-expanding quantum sector, but it must move quickly to secure them—before someone else delivers the first large-scale quantum computer, which is projected to arrive sooner than predicted.
Quantum technology is the way of the future.
Quantum computing is a new sort of quantum technology that blends quantum physics principles with conventional computation. As a consequence, quantum computers can do jobs that traditional computers cannot.
While quantum computers will be revolutionary, they will also create new issues by breaching the public key cryptography that now safeguards the internet and business networks. Public key cryptography is a way of encrypting data using key pairs. A communication can be encrypted by anybody with a public key, but only those with the corresponding private key can decode it.
The keys are created by computers that perform complicated mathematical problems that are unbreakable by today’s most powerful computers but can be cracked by quantum computers. Today’s intercepted and stored data is already exposed to this potential danger. This gives an opportunity for Canada to invest in new communications security technologies, beginning with “post-quantum” encryption algorithms and progressing to quantum key distribution, a sort of provably secure quantum encryption based on quantum physics.
To deploy quantum key distribution across long distances, we’ll need to construct satellite-based quantum repeaters that operate similarly to repeaters in today’s fiber-optic networks. They enable the transmission of quantum signals across large distances. Researchers in Canada are well on their way to producing them.
Unless we safeguard our cybersecurity infrastructure now, the arrival of a quantum computer might be the information-security equivalent of a nuclear bomb: nearly no information or computing systems would be safe from a future quantum assault. Canada must take the chance to lead the world in developing, implementing, and exporting technologies to enable and safeguard the global quantum internet.
Making plans for the future
Forecasting the effect of large-scale quantum computers is as difficult as predicting the changes that occurred once semiconductor physics was commercialised. When transistors, the crown jewel of semiconductor microchip technology, was initially marketed, they were believed to be very useful in the creation of hearing aids. They fueled a computer and communications revolution; now, semiconductor physics may be found in everything from laptops and phones to automobiles and medical equipment.
When large-scale quantum physics becomes commercially viable, it will have an influence on practically every area, sector, and facet of our life. With quantum computers, scientists and engineers will be able to handle a wide range of challenges, including modelling and designing drug targets, developing better batteries, and developing more effective methods of producing green hydrogen and synthetic gas.
Maintaining the advantage
To sustain its leadership, Canada must go beyond R&D and expedite the creation of a quantum ecosystem that includes a strong talent pipeline, enterprises backed by supply chains, and government and industry participation. There are many things that Canada can do to help drive this leadership:
Maintain funding for quantum research: Canada is home to more than a dozen quantum research institutions and laboratories, including my Silicon Quantum Technologies Lab at Simon Fraser University. Since 2005, the Canadian government has funded more than $1 billion in quantum research, and a national quantum plan is expected to be announced shortly. Canada must continue to invest in quantum research or risk losing its present skill pool and competitive edge.
Increase our talent pipeline by allowing more open immigration: Despite the fact that quantum specialists are educated at every major institution in Canada, there is a three-to-one demand for them. Fast-track immigration policies like the ones that fueled the telecom boom in the 1990s are needed in Canada.
Be our own best customers: Canadian businesses are leading the way, but they want assistance. Quantum Industry Canada has about 30 member firms. D-Wave and Photonic Inc., the firm I created to commercialise silicon quantum technology, is headquartered in Vancouver. Between 2001 and 2021, more than $650 million was invested in Canadian startups. On a per capita basis, this is substantially in excess of the $2.1 billion spent in US enterprises over the same time period.
Customers are what early quantum enterprises need the most: early, big procurement contracts or DARPA-style moonshot contracts. Without these contracts, the whole Canadian quantum sector would migrate to other countries that concentrate investment and procurement on domestic bidders, as the European Union and the United States are doing.
Taking lessons from the past
Canada has a chance to stop the cycle of developing disruptive technologies but failing to enjoy the benefits. This is what occurred when the transistor was invented. The first transistor patent was actually submitted in Canada 20 years before the Bell Labs demonstration by Canadian-Hungarian researcher Julius Edgar Lilienfeld. In addition, Alexander Graham Bell worked in Canada to develop and patent the telephone.
Regardless, the transistor was commercialised in the United States, resulting in the country’s US$63 billion semiconductor sector. The telephone was popularised by Bell via The Bell Telephone Company, which later became AT&T.
Canada is ready to contribute considerably more to quantum technology. Much current technology was pioneered in Canada, including quantum cryptography, which was co-invented by Gilles Brassard, a professor at the University of Montreal. Rather than repeating previous errors, Canada should take action now to ensure the development of the quantum technology sector.
