Semiconductors are physical components that control the flow of electric current in microchips, which are essential to almost every electronic device, from LED light bulbs and blenders to EVs and rocket ships.
But the industry says Canada still lacks an overarching strategy that brings together public and private stakeholders to plan how the country can take advantage of the window of opportunity as key parts of the global semiconductor industry return to North America. Over the past two decades, however, the industry shrank as many of the country’s large companies were acquired and folded into foreign companies, leaving some facilities and staff here, but taking head offices, intellectual property and corporate profits elsewhere, Mr. Stewart said.
Semiconductors now scale in mere nanometres , necessitating investment in research and development to push the laws of physics. Meanwhile, AI technologies require cutting edge new hardware that can hold up to the pressure of the intense computer power required to run calculations, and to make doing so more efficient .
This has only become more apparent over the past year amid mounting geopolitical tensions, particularly between China and the United States over Taiwan. Canada has seen its own mini-boom over the past few years, with a slew of startups emerging since 2015. Companies such as Ranovus, Xanadu and Tenstorrent Inc. are also drawing more attention and investment, raising more than $300-million combined over the past two years. Ranovus’s chip improves efficiency in data centres and communication networks. Xanadu’s chips are for quantum-computing applications. Tenstorrent, which recently penned a deal with South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc., builds multipurpose AI chips for applications that include smart TVs.
A new incubator has also sprung up to help new companies grow. Since 2020, 80 semiconductor companies have emerged from the Hardware Catalyst Initiative, an incubator exclusively for hardware products run out of ventureLAB, the tech accelerator headed by Ms. Chee in Markham. While there may be more funding available now, industry experts say it’s not yet clear how that investment should be focused.