Quantum Computing future, Canada
We can't afford to fall behind.
RCMP released an internal report named the Whole Of Government Five Year Trends For Canada. It highlighted the risks it foresees in Canada over the short term. The report was made public via a FOIP but it was highly redacted. Some of these risks include climate change, uprisings as the standard of living is falling and young Canadians are getting priced out of homes, erosion of trust, AI, blockchain, and quantum computing.
I agree with all of them but the specific one to stick out was quantum computing. The report didn’t seem to have too much to say on it as there was only one redacted paragraph and the unredacted part only said: “It is possible that quantum computing will be available within the next five years”. Hmm.
The federal government invested $17.2M in quantum computing startups recently, Quebec alone has invested over $200M in the last seven years, and in Budget 2024 the Quantum National Strategy (apparently we have one) is mentioned as a key strategic investment action. I applaud all of it but it is not enough.
Quantum computing is something Canada can’t blink on. It is an arms race.
There are two aspects of the quantum computing field we have to think about: economic opportunity, and vulnerability risk.
Quantum computing will revolutionize computing. It will be a new age for calculations and discovery. It will offer superiority and precision with speed in a way we just can’t achieve right now even with our most advanced supercomputers. Not even close.
Google’s quantum computer did a calculation that took seconds but for the most powerful current supercomputer, it would have taken 47 years. Not a typo. They are millions of times faster and the field is just developing.
Our current computers operate via transistors in a binary fashion of 1s or 0s called bits. Quantum computers use tiny particles called qubits which can also be 1s or 0s but they can also be in both states simultaneously - superposition state.
We are leaving the linear way of computing into the exponential. Data can work in different dimensions at once, and complex calculations and problems can be performed simultaneously. The more qubits are linked, quantum entanglement, the power of the quantum computer increases even more substantially.
We are moving towards a new era and it is paramount to future-proof our economy and society.
With such computational power, a whole landscape of new R&D will be opened. Material science, medicine, new applications, etc. will be discovered at a rate never seen before or capable before. It is an astronomical competitive advantage.
The technology will make many things obsolete, including current cyber security and encryptions. There will have to be a totally brand-new quantum security field created. This is a national security threat in more ways than one.
Canada cannot afford to fail to support this transformational technology and must create an environment for its commercialization. We have superb research in our Universities in the field and over 40 industry-leading companies. Unfortunately, one company has already moved its headquarters to the US.
Every decision from policies to taxes, to investments governments make from now on, including provincial, should have a consideration to how it puts Canada in a better position for a quantum future.