Feds announce $6.5-million investment in Alberta defence manufacturing

Two Edmonton companies are receiving significant investment as part of the federal government’s efforts to shore up Canadian defence supply chains.

“Security and our prosperity are now really inseparable, and national security really starts with industrial capacity.”
Minister Eleanor Olszewski

On Thursday, Eleanor Olszewski, member of parliament for Edmonton-Centre and the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), announced $6.5 million in funding through the agency, which is an economic development department focused on Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The PrairiesCan funding is part of the Canadian government’s Regional Defence Investment Initiative (RDII), a roughly $357-million program announced last December to boost Canada’s defence industrial base.

“The world has changed, as we know. It’s just a little bit more uncertain, and possibly unsafe, as well,” Olszewski said during the announcement at Logican Technologies’ manufacturing facility in Edmonton. “Our prime minister has been clear: security and our prosperity are now really inseparable, and national security really starts with industrial capacity.”

The $6.5 million will be split between two Edmonton-based businesses. The first, Zero Po i nt Cryogenics (ZPC), a deeptech company manufacturing cooling systems for quantum computing research, is receiving $5 million. That money will go toward advancing the commercialization of ZPC’s dilution refrigerators and cryogenics, which are increasingly relevant to defence prototyping and “mission-critical systems,” according to a release issued by PrairiesCan.

With just six companies globally that produce the type of dilution refrigerators that ZPC does, advancing commercialization is intended to strengthen Canada’s domestic defence industrial base by scaling domestic production capacity of ZPC’s products.

“Quantum computing, communications, and sensing are no longer theoretical. They are becoming operational realities, particularly within defence,” said ZPC CEO Chris Cassin during the announcement. “As defence shifts toward the digital and the intangible, it’s important that Canada’s sovereignty is anchored by the world’s most advanced technologies.”

Logican Technologies, an electronics manufacturing company with a decades-long history of working with the defence sector, is receiving $1.5 million from PrairiesCan. The investment will go toward expanding Logican’s advanced manufacturing capabilities for defence-related technologies, including sonar used to detect, locate, and track submarines and other naval communications.

“I want to recognize the contribution PrairiesCan has made to our vision to play a bigger part in the objective to create a stronger domestic supply chain for the defence industry,” Mike Melle, president of Logican Technologies, told those gathered for the announcement. “We are scaling to meet the challenges of the defence sector today.”

According to Olszewski, this investment will support or maintain 145 jobs in the Edmonton region. At least some of those will be at Logican, where Melle said the company plans to expand its employee base.

“We will be adding to our program management, engineering, and operations staff to ensure the skill sets are in place for the challenges that we will face,” he said.

BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.

Feature image courtesy Jesse Cole for BetaKit.