The Canadian National Semiconductor Symposium Accelerated provides a platform to showcase the first batch of beneficiaries of the FABRIC project. FABRIC is a five-year initiative worth 223 million Canadian dollars (approximately 163 million US dollars) aimed at promoting the development of Canada’s semiconductor industry.
The project is managed by CMC Microsystems, which also hosted the conference. The funding program will publicly solicit applications in September 2024. The first round of FABRIC Challenge project was announced in June 2025, with a total investment of 35.6 million Canadian dollars (approximately 26 million US dollars), including 13.4 million Canadian dollars (approximately 9.8 million US dollars) provided by the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada.
This round and each subsequent FABRIC challenge will have specific focus areas. The initial solicitation of applications is divided into two directions. The first direction requires the project to focus on developing and commercializing new advanced sensors and other semiconductor products for strategic end use areas. The second direction requires the development of process technologies for semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, involving strategic core technologies such as photonics MEMS、 Quantum technology (such as computing) and compound semiconductors to make them widely available in Canada.
At the Accelerated project exhibition, the field of photonics performed outstandingly, showcasing multiple companies among the 20 winners.
Photon technology companies respond to the demand for AI data centers
This includes Ranovus Inc., a well-known photonics company headquartered in Ottawa with offices worldwide. Mike Sekerka, Vice President and General Manager of the Defense and Government Business Unit of the company, stated that Ranovus focuses on developing multi wavelength laser test chips for large-scale applications, including projects of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
He stated that FABRIC funding is helping Ranovus develop a Canadian technology showcase to meet the global demand for high demand co packaged optical devices in GPU and memory interconnect clusters. There is a gap between interconnection and computation, “Sekerka said. This poses a problem for system designers because they cannot fully utilize the advantages of computational advancements
The transition from copper cables to optics typically involves a shift towards pluggable modules, but Sekerka said that this form factor consumes a lot of power in modern AI clusters, which is why Ranovus has developed its own chips that can be integrated into modules.
Similar to Ranovus, Dream Photonics is responding to the opportunities brought by the rapid growth of AI data centers. Sudip Shekhar, co-founder of the company, stated that “the majority of the cost for transceivers lies in packaging, testing, and assembly, rather than the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) itself. This is a big problem.”
He stated that “there is a risk of stagnation in the current generation of silicon photonics technology. Building the next generation of transceivers is like building a rocket spacecraft.”
Shekhar said that Dream Photonics has been operating for five years, collaborating with 30 clients and drawing inspiration from LEGO – the company’s hybrid integration aims to build transceivers with the best available components, including lasers, modulators, and detectors.
“The company’s 3D printing additive manufacturing lens solution can collaborate with any OEM factory worldwide. You can combine different technologies together and bond them together, “he said.
Shekhar stated that FABRIC funding is helping Dream Photonics collaborate with various component manufacturers to develop market entry strategies for building the next generation of transceivers.
Quantum computing interconnection drives the development of photon technology
AI is not the only driving force behind the development of photonics technology in Canada – the demand for quantum computing interconnection is also driving its development.
Aeponyx Enterprises, headquartered in Montreal, has recently been acquired by Pascal, a neutral atom quantum computing company. This has enabled the company to focus on developing laser based systems and enhance quantum computing capabilities by directly integrating its PIC into neutral atom processors. In this processor, a laser beam array captures, arranges, and entangles atoms as quantum bits.
“The goal of this project is to expand the scale of quantum computers, “said Philippe Babin, General Manager of Aeponyx
FABRIC funding will assist Aeponyx in developing a low loss silicon nitride PIC platform to achieve compact optical filters for refining the linewidth of semiconductor laser diodes operating at visible or near-infrared wavelengths for quantum computing applications.
Babin stated that Aeponyx will utilize CMC’s shared manufacturing and packaging infrastructure to continue developing its PIC technology.
He said “Pascal strongly committed to maintaining a presence in Montreal to further develop Aeponyx’s technology, while expanding its technology and delivering four quantum computers in Europe and Saudi Arabia. The FABRIC project is essentially aimed at helping us develop this technology in Canada. ”
Subsequent funding focuses on the field of the Internet of Things
The second round of FABRIC funding challenge has ended at the end of October, focusing on attracting applications for the development of Internet of Things (IoT) products, including edge AI and ocean/maritime IoT.
