Feds investing $20 million in Waterloo’s Quantum Valley Ideas Lab

NEWS RELEASE
INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CANADA
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The Government of Canada is building the foundation for Canadian innovators to invest, strengthen communities, grow our economy and create good middle-class jobs. The Government is partnering with groundbreaking digital industries to invest in quantum-related technologies and skills development. This will mean smarter security systems to better protect Canadians’ homes, more powerful digital security tools to secure their online transactions, and more efficient medicines to improve their health.

Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced a total investment of $41 million in one Waterloo-based not-for-profit and three start-up companies developing cutting-edge products that integrate quantum, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. The total cost of the projects is $101.8 million.

Together, these investments will help create up to 167 new skilled jobs and maintain 75 jobs in Waterloo. The companies will increase their investments in research and development and strengthen their collaborations with post-secondary institutions to help drive the growth of a vibrant and world-leading Canadian quantum ecosystem.

The four investments include:

• $20 million for the Quantum Valley Ideas Lab (QVIL), a non-profit charitable organization, to develop a unique facility that will create new quantum-related products and businesses. This project will allow Ideas Lab to establish dedicated teams of quantum researchers, engineers and technology experts. These teams will develop new innovations in the areas of quantum sensors, navigation, security, encryption and computing. These innovations will attract new companies to the Waterloo region and help some of those already there scale up and grow. QVIL’s project is valued at $43.4 million.
• $7.3 million for Cognitive Systems to develop the next generation of its patented WiFi Motion software, technology that uses the home’s Wi-Fi network to identify and localize motion for the security, smart home and wellness monitoring markets. Cognitive’s project will integrate artificial intelligence into its software while expanding its technology across a wider range of devices that aim to help protect Canadian homes and residents. Cognitive’s project is valued at $25.1 million.
• $6.5 million for High Q Technologies to develop new quantum technologies that will enable potentially life-saving treatments for illnesses, such as cystic fibrosis. The project will leverage recent advances in quantum technology to develop new and improved medical devices that will allow researchers to study diseases and pharmaceutical companies to produce new medicines more efficiently. High Q’s project is valued at $17.6 million.
• $7.2 million for ISARA Corporation to develop new approaches to quantum-safe security to protect mission-critical data, IT infrastructure and networks today and in the quantum age. Because future large-scale quantum computers will be able to easily break existing encryption methods, the project will enable the development of practical, standardized quantum-safe encryption tools and solutions that large enterprises (such as financial institutions and governments) can easily implement using their existing systems. ISARA’s project is valued at $15.7 million.

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