Silicon is so last season.
The material that gave Silicon Valley its name has been surpassed by semiconductor tech 1,000 times faster: photonics, which transmits data on beams of light.
Canada announced this week that it plans to allow private investment in the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC), a move Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said “will strengthen Canada’s leadership” in the sector.
If you asked the crowd at Chips North in Ottawa, that’s an understatement.
Paul Slaby, managing director of Canada’s Semiconductor Council, told me this could create the next TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, for optical computing in Canada.
The CPFC fabricates the compound semiconductors used in faster and more energy-efficient photonic computing. Demand is evident: CPFC director general Velko Tzolov said on stage that clients have asked how much it would cost to buy up 100 percent of its manufacturing capacity.
CPFC is the only foundry of its kind in North America and, according to Slaby and others, also the best in the world. By spinning it out, CPFC can get the private capital it needs to scale up and fulfil that demand.
That would also mean Canada is on the ground floor for what hardware leaders see as the next trillion-dollar age of computing. Joe Costello, CEO of Ottawa-based Inpho, likened it to the early days of Silicon Valley.
“It’s not like there are thousands of places to go… there’s not already some dominant player,” Costello said. “You gotta come to Ottawa.”
If Costello is right, the Ottawa Valley might soon have a new moniker.
Alex Riehl
Staff Writer, Ottawa
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Solomon Says
As the Canadian tech ecosystem awaits the federal government’s refreshed AI strategy, this week, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon provided some insights into the strategy’s direction.
- Solomon told BetaKit at Chips North that Canada won’t be pursuing a standalone national semiconductor strategy, despite calls from industry groups.
- Solomon also revealed that Canada will create an AI and Labour Advisory Council, stemming from a desire to maintain regular contact with labour leaders following initial meetings last week.
- After federal and provincial watchdogs found that OpenAI violated Canadian privacy laws, Solomon said that modernizing Canada’s privacy laws “remains a priority” for the federal government.
First Canada, then the world: nation’s rocket builders see a bigger opening in space
At the Canadian Space Launch Conference in Ottawa, the founders of NordSpace, Canada Rocket Company, and Reaction Dynamics unpacked what sovereign space launch capabilities truly mean, why we need them, and where they think Canada has an opportunity to lead globally.
Dispatch from NACO Summit
At the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, founders and investors gathered to discuss the state of Canadian venture capital and their plans for the future.
- Koho CEO Daniel Eberhard indicated that his company is close to securing its long-awaited banking licence, and outlined his hopes to soon launch a telco product.
- Leaders from Dentons, HarbourVest Partners, and TMX Group dissected the state of Canada’s exit markets and the approaches some businesses are taking to turn investments into cash.
- Canadian VCs from Adrenaline Fund, The SAIL Initiative, and TandemLaunch dispelled some of the biggest misconceptions about investing in deep tech startups, no PhD required.
- Virtual Gurus founder Bobbie Racette explained how her new startup, Tapwi, is built around the simple idea of being the support for underserved founders that she never had.
Dispatch from Uniting the Prairies
Uniting the Prairies 2026 brought lessons from Silicon Valley to founders in Saskatoon last week.
- Four-time founder and early-stage investor Chris Neumann argued that the gap between Silicon Valley and the rest of the startup world isn’t just scale or capital, it’s speed.
- Golden Ventures partner Alison Kaizer argued that founders shouldn’t outsource hiring, and instead must build that “muscle” in the AI era.
Canada’s plan to ban crypto ATMs worries industry, advocates
A proposal from the federal government to ban the nearly 4,000 cryptocurrency ATMs across Canada is drawing backlash from Canada’s digital asset industry, with advocates and industry leaders calling for more consultation.
“The math is not mathing”: How AI bubble fears are changing Canadian VCs’ investment approach
At the DiscoveryX conference in Toronto last week, leaders from Wittington, McRock, and IRV clashed on whether AI is a bubble, but agreed that some things do not add up as inflated valuations change the types of deals being finalized.
Toronto Tech Week reveals new Homecoming speakers
More speakers have signed up to join Homecoming, Toronto Tech Week’s official mainstage event. Float co-founder and CEO Rob Khazzam, Google DeepMind’s Amit Vadi, and Boardy founder Andrew D’Souza will stand in front of more than 1,000 of Canada’s top builders at History later this month.
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The BetaKit Podcast — How StackAdapt quietly built an adtech giant
“With AI, it should bring down the barriers to how you quickly adopt new software without having to become masters of the software.”
When StackAdapt started with its adtech solution, competition was fierce and investors didn’t see the opportunity. A decade later, StackAdapt is one of Canada’s largest and most profitable private companies. CEO and co-founder Vitaly Pecherskiy joins to discuss how that happened, and why AI has changed B2B software development.
Join us during Toronto Tech Week for a series of MaRS Mornings conversations and networking events that bring together the people building, funding and scaling Canada’s tech future. Whether you are growing a startup, managing a fund or seeking new opportunities this is your daily stand-up with the innovation community.
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Feature image courtesy Chips North.