Ontario budget supports quantum research at Waterloo

The Province of Ontario renewed its investment in world leading quantum technology research today allotting $25 million to the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo over five years.

“We are extremely grateful that the Province of Ontario continues to create the conditions for Ontario, and Canada, to lead the world in quantum information research," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo.

The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at Waterloo is among the top five quantum research institutes in the world. It brings together researchers from the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and has attracted investment from the private sector as well as the provincial and federal governments.

The Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) Cluster Deposition lab at the Institute for Quantum Computing

How will quantum technology change your life?

Quantum information science and its resulting technologies have the potential to fundamentally affect the ways we work, communicate and live. As quantum information research matures from theory to experiment, transformational technologies are spawning an entirely new industry – quantum information technology.

“Today’s support for IQC further positions Waterloo to take full advantage of the opportunities that quantum information science present,” said Professor Raymond Laflamme, executive director of IQC. “The discoveries in our labs and the technologies our researchers are creating will drive the growth of Canada’s Quantum Valley. Entirely new quantum industries will grow and thrive here.”  

IQC has attracted $350 million in funding

The Province of Ontario made a $50M investment in IQC in 2006. IQC has also attracted more than $300 million in investments from the Government of Canada, Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis and the University of Waterloo. The investment has allowed IQC to make significant strides:

• A demonstration of quantum cryptography protocols with untrusted parties that could lead to ultra-secure communications– for example on the internet or at a bank’s ATM.

• In March, physicists at IQC demonstrated the distribution of multi-particle entanglement outside of the lab for the first time.

• In December, IQC opened a first-of-its kind, world-class quantum materials laboratory  that could lead to the creation of quantum materials for use in a new generation of quantum technologies.

The Government of Canada announced in February a further $15 million for IQC over three years.

IQC milestones

• The University of Waterloo established IQC in 2002 to be a world leader in the field of quantum research with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Innovation Trust, and from Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis.

• IQC benefactors Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin announced the creation of Quantum Valley Investments in 2013, an investment fund worth $100 million.

• IQC research bridges theory and experiments in quantum computing, quantum communication and other quantum devices and quantum materials through the collaboration of more than 200 computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, physical scientists and students.

• IQC recently attracted researchers Michal Bajcsy from Stanford University, Kyung Soo Choi from Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and renowned physicist Raffi Budakian from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to grow its faculty complement to 21. IQC continues to grow towards its target of 33 faculty, 55 postdoctoral fellows and 165 graduate students.