Only six companies in the world manufacture the cryogenic infrastructure required by leading quantum technologies. Five are located in Europe and the United States. One is Canadian. That should matter to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government as it takes action on Canada’s defence sovereignty.

Canada is preparing to spend billions strengthening its military capabilities and rebuilding domestic industrial capacity. Carney’s Defence Industrial Strategy has set a goal of sourcing 70 per cent of Canada’s defence needs from within Canada, recognizing that a country that cannot produce the technologies it relies on for security is ultimately dependent on others for its defence.

For decades, discussions about defence self-reliance have focused on ships, aircraft, vehicles, steel and ammunition. Those capabilities remain essential. And the next generation of defence technologies will depend on something else as well: quantum technologies. The increasingly important role of quantum is specifically spelled out in Carney’s Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) and the Canadian Armed Forces and our allies are already investing in quantum-enabled  communications, sensing and computing capabilities. These technologies are expected to play an increasingly important role in operating in contested environments where traditional systems can be disrupted, hacked, spoofed or degraded.

Canada has rightly invested in quantum innovations. The National Quantum Strategy and Canadian Quantum Champions Program recognize the economic and strategic importance of the sector, especially in defence. And if Canada is serious about defence sovereignty, it must look beyond the companies developing quantum applications and consider the supply chains that make those applications possible.

The Quantum Champions program should not only support quantum computing — it should also support the full stack of quantum, from wiring and quantum interconnects to magnets and cryogenics. Sovereignty is not determined only by who builds the most advanced technologies, it is also determined by who controls the critical supply chains those technologies depend on.

As an example, if you search for quantum computing online, you’ll likely come across images of a beautiful golden chandelier. That isn’t a quantum computer — it is the specialized infrastructure that surrounds one. These incredibly complex structures are called cryostats, the coldest of which are dilution refrigerators, and they create the ultra-low temperatures required for quantum computers to operate. Yet only six companies in the world manufacture critical cryogenic infrastructure for quantum applications, with just one in Canada.

Canada already possesses the technical expertise, intellectual property and manufacturing capability required to participate in this critical segment of the quantum supply chain. What we do not yet possess is the scale and strategic focus necessary to ensure that capability remains competitive as global demand accelerates.

This challenge extends well beyond cryogenics.

The future quantum economy will depend on specialized materials, advanced manufacturing, skilled trades, precision engineering, testing facilities and secure domestic supply chains. Countries around the world are moving aggressively to secure these capabilities because they understand that economic and strategic leadership is built on supply chains as much as it is on scientific breakthroughs.

Canada should do the same.

Supporting domestic quantum supply chains does not mean turning away from trusted allies. It means ensuring that Canada retains meaningful domestic capabilities in the technologies that will increasingly underpin both our economy and our national security.

The question facing policy makers is not simply which quantum companies will build the most impressive applications. It is ensuring that these companies have robust and reliable supply chains that scale with them as no other country will prioritize Canada’s supply chain needs over their own. This is specifically true in quantum where many of the companies within the supply chain have a limited number of competitors or no competitors at all.

Those are the strategic links in the supply chain. Those are the capabilities that deserve attention. Much like how the global tech economy ultimately found its indispensable backbone in Taiwan for semiconductor manufacturing, Canada has the opportunity to become the foundational champion for the quantum era. For the Canadian government to invest in building quantum computers without the supporting supply chain would be like Canada’s automobile industry manufacturing cars without engines.

Canada is already recognized as a global leader in quantum research and innovation. The next challenge is ensuring that leadership is supported by domestic manufacturing, infrastructure and industrial capacity.

The countries that secure these supply chains today will be the countries that capture the economic and strategic benefits tomorrow.

If defence self-reliance is the goal, quantum sovereignty must be part of the plan.

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