Canada’s National Quantum Strategy: A Good Start, But Not Enough

Canadian officials unveiling the National Quantum Strategy in January 2023, a $360 million plan to boost quantum innovation. I’ve spent the past five years living in Canada and writing about emerging technologies here, and this moment inspires both hope and concern. On one hand, I applaud Canada for finally launching a National Quantum Strategy (NQS) – a clear signal that our government recognizes the importance of quantum technology. On the other hand, I worry that this $360 million initiative – while welcome – may be too little, too late to change Canada’s pattern of losing out on the commercial gains of its own innovations. In this op-ed, I want to celebrate this step forward but also highlight why it’s not enough, and what more is needed to truly keep Canadian quantum innovation from escaping our borders.

A Welcome Step for Canadian Quantum Tech

Canada’s new NQS is a positive step in many respects. It’s built on three pillars aimed at strengthening the quantum ecosystem – research, talent, and commercialization – which shows policymakers are at least aware of the full innovation pipeline. The strategy allocates funding across these priorities over seven years, as follows:

1. Research: $141 million to advance basic and applied quantum research.
2. Talent: $45 million to develop and retain quantum expertise in Canada.
3. Commercialization: $169 million to help translate quantum research into scalable products and services.

It’s encouraging to see nearly half of the funding earmarked for commercialization, an area where Canada has historically struggled. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, in unveiling the strategy at Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute, rightly said he believes quantum will be “an engine for growth” for Canada. He even acknowledged that we need to “be more ambitious” to keep our lead. This kind of rhetoric – and the very existence of a national plan – is refreshing. It signals that Canada doesn’t want to miss the boat on the coming quantum revolution.

The strategy’s missions are also laudable on paper. Canada aims to lead in quantum computing hardware and software, build a national secure quantum communications network (with post-quantum cryptography), and push early adoption of quantum sensing technologies. These goals play to our strengths – we have world-class quantum research hubs and companies. In fact, Canada was home to the world’s first quantum computing company (D-Wave Systems), and Toronto’s Xanadu recently became a quantum unicorn startup by hitting a $1 billion valuation. The NQS’s focus on turning such research into real products – for example, helping firms like Xanadu bring their tech to market – is exactly what we’ve long needed. So yes, let’s give credit: the National Quantum Strategy is a much-needed and constructive move.

Innovating in Canada, Commercializing Abroad

Why, then, do I still feel uneasy? Because I’ve seen this movie before. Canada has a well-known pattern in emerging tech: we punch above our weight in invention and research, but we consistently fail to capitalize on it commercially. Time and again, brilliant innovations are developed on Canadian soil – only for the successful products and companies based on those innovations to spring up elsewhere (often in the United States).

Look at artificial intelligence: Canadian researchers pioneered breakthroughs like deep learning, and our federal government poured hundreds of millions into AI research. Yet when it comes to turning that knowledge into homegrown companies and products, we lag far behind. According to some research only about 7% of the intellectual property generated under Canada’s big AI research program ended up owned by Canadian firms – the rest flowed out to foreign companies. In other words, we paid to train some of the world’s top AI talent (we have 10% of the world’s top-tier AI researchers, by one count), only to watch many of them and their ideas get absorbed by Silicon Valley and China. Even Prime Minister Trudeau has conceded that Canada hasn’t always been great at commercializing its innovations – a humble admission that rings true across sectors.

The same story echoes in blockchain and mobile technology. Ethereum, one of the most influential blockchain platforms, was co-founded by a Canadian (among others), but its economic impact mostly left our borders. In telecom, Canadian-born inventions (from the roots of wireless networks to the smartphone era) often ended up generating massive U.S. companies or fell prey to foreign competition. We have no shortage of creativity and technical expertise here. What we lack is the consistent ability to turn that into global commercial success based in Canada. Entrepreneurs here often face an uphill battle raising growth capital domestically or finding supportive early customers. Many ultimately sell their startups to U.S. tech giants or relocate to where the investors are. This “branch plant” syndrome has frustrated Canadian tech folks for decades – and I’m hearing those same frustrations now in our nascent quantum industry. In conversations with researchers and founders, there’s excitement about quantum’s potential, but also a worry that Canada will once again be the innovative lab for someone else’s profits.

The Global Quantum Race: Billions vs. Millions

Another reason for caution is that $360 million – spread over seven years – is a relatively small bet in the context of the global quantum race. Make no mistake: around the world, a fierce competition is underway to dominate in quantum technology, and other countries are placing much larger bets. A recent Mitacs report put it bluntly: “a ferocious competition is underway between major geopolitical powers to secure a bigger and more colourful portfolio of quantum technologies… Canada cannot afford to lose this race”. Our allies and rivals are treating quantum like the next space race, with moonshot-level investments.

China’s planned National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences in Hefei – an investment of $10 billion – exemplifies how other countries are treating quantum as a top national priority. Massive initiatives like this underscore the scale at which the global quantum race is being run, far beyond the comparatively modest stakes Canada has anted up so far. In the United States and Europe too, government and industry spending on quantum is measured in billions, not millions. For example, Germany committed €2 billion (≈$2.8 billion CAD) in public funds to quantum tech in 2021 – a plan that “dwarfs that of almost every other country” at the time. France launched a €1.8 billion national quantum strategy, which vaulted it into third place globally for quantum funding (behind only the U.S. and China). The European Union as a whole earmarked over €1 billion for quantum research in its flagship program. And the U.S., through the National Quantum Initiative and various defense and science agencies, has likewise funneled well over a billion dollars into quantum R&D (not to mention the hefty private-sector investments by American tech companies).

By comparison, Canada’s $360 million is a drop in the bucket. In fact, the NQS’s own consultation process even warned that this funding “may be insufficient to achieve our goals, especially as other countries have promised to invest more”. This isn’t to say money alone wins the race – but such a stark gap in resources should set off alarm bells. If quantum technology truly is going to be as revolutionary as AI (or more so), then we risk being left behind or becoming merely consumers of foreign quantum solutions. We’ve been early pioneers – we have top quantum scientists and startups here – but without bolder backing, there’s a real chance that Canada ends up contributing the science while others reap the economic rewards.

Developing (and Keeping) Quantum Talent and Startups

Funding is only part of the equation. Another critical piece – which $360 million won’t automatically solve – is people. Quantum science and engineering are highly specialized fields, and talent is globally mobile. Canada must not only train a new generation of quantum experts, but also retain them. The strategy’s $45 million for talent development is a start, but to be frank, that sum spread across the entire country over several years is a token gesture. Competing nations are investing heavily in education, visas, and talent programs to attract top quantum physicists and engineers. We need to do the same, or our best minds will be lured to places with bigger research grants and salaries. The NQS is expected to create thousands of new jobs in quantum, but Canada needs to be strategic about attracting and keeping that talent in an increasingly competitive market. This might mean expanding scholarships and fellowships in quantum fields, creating dedicated research chairs and labs to anchor star scientists here, and making it easier for Canadian startups and universities to hire skilled immigrants in quantum tech roles.

The other piece is supporting quantum startups so they can grow and thrive as Canadian companies. It’s great that NQS directs $169 million to commercialization – perhaps via programs, grants or procurement incentives for quantum solutions. But more ideas should be on the table. For instance, direct scale-up funding: as deep-tech startups move from prototype to product, they often face a funding valley of death. Our VCs in Canada are improving, but there’s still a reluctance to make big bets on hardware-heavy, long-horizon ventures like quantum computing. The government could consider matching funds or co-investments for quantum startups that attract private capital, to leverage more investment into the space. We should also encourage domestic adoption of quantum technologies – e.g. government agencies and Canadian industry acting as early pilot customers for homegrown quantum solutions (whether in computing, secure communications, or advanced sensors). Early adoption at home can give startups valuable validation and revenue without needing to flee to Silicon Valley for their first big break.

Another idea: guarding our intellectual property. When public money funds research that leads to valuable IP, we should explore mechanisms (within reason) to keep that IP in Canada or at least ensure Canadian benefit. This is tricky – we want to collaborate internationally, and researchers should have freedom – but perhaps universities and government labs can put more emphasis on patenting and licensing strategies that favor local startups. The status quo has too often seen Canadian labs acting as feeder schools for foreign tech giants’ patent portfolios. If we want Canadian quantum companies to succeed, they need access to the breakthroughs happening here, not to be scooped by the highest bidder from abroad.

Finally, a cultural shift may be needed. We have to move past our national comfort with being the incubator and not the finisher. It’s time Canada aspires not just to contribute to science, but to build global tech champions. Quantum could be our chance to get it right – if we go all in. This means being willing to invest big, take risks, and perhaps even tolerate some failures along the way. It also means celebrating and backing our entrepreneurs who choose the harder path of building companies here, instead of implicitly encouraging them to sell out early.

Avoiding Another Missed Opportunity

In 2023, quantum computing is no longer science fiction – it’s almost within reach. Researchers are achieving breakthroughs that suggest truly useful quantum machines may be just a few years away. Governments around the world (including ones I’ve worked with) are acting on the belief that whoever leads in quantum tech will gain a strategic and economic edge for decades to come. I’m heartened that Canada has joined the race with an official strategy. But we have to sprint, not jog. The National Quantum Strategy, as it stands, feels like a tentative first step when what we need is a running leap.

Canada has all the ingredients to be a powerhouse in quantum: brilliant minds, top universities, innovation hubs like Waterloo and Toronto, and even some established quantum companies. What we need now is the political and financial will to double down and see it through. That means more investment (yes, I’m talking about on the order of billions, not millions), and bold initiatives to develop talent and scale companies here at home. It means learning from our past mistakes in AI, blockchain, and telecom, so that this time we don’t let a homegrown revolution slip through our fingers.

To be constructive, I’ll say this to our policymakers: Use this strategy as a foundation, but don’t stop here. In the next federal budget or two, build on it – allocate further funding if the programs show promise. Launch those internships, research collaborations, and incubators that will grow a generation of quantum experts and entrepreneurs. Remove red tape for trials of quantum tech in healthcare, finance, and government services so Canadian solutions can get early proof-of-concept wins domestically. And think creatively about how to ensure that Canadian breakthroughs benefit Canada – whether through smarter IP policies, incentives to manufacture hardware here, or requirements that publicly funded advances at least attempt commercialization locally before being sold off.

If we fail to take these extra steps, the risk is clear. Canada will once again do the hard work of innovating, only to see others capture the value. We will have trained top talent only to wave them goodbye at the airport. We will have seeded startups only to watch them become part of an American or Chinese tech giant’s empire. It would be a frustrating repeat of a story we know too well. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We still have a window of opportunity to turn things around.

So yes, let’s cheer the National Quantum Strategy – it’s an important and positive gesture. But let’s also call it what it is: a starting point. Now is the time to be ambitious (as Minister Champagne urged) and follow through with real depth of commitment. Canada has a chance to lead in the quantum age, not just contribute. The difference between those two outcomes will be determined by what we do next. Will we learn from our past and invest in our own success, or will we once again pave the road for others to profit from our ideas? The answer will shape Canada’s high-tech future for decades to come. I, for one, am hopeful we can get it right – but only if we recognize that announcing a strategy is not enough. The real work is just beginning, and Canada must seize this moment with the urgency and boldness it demands.