Simon Chong, co-founder of Canadian growth-equity firm Georgian, sees the future of the country’s technology industry inside a 95-year-old Campbell’s Soup factory in Toronto. The shuttered plant is becoming the foundation of a plan to keep Canadian deep-tech companies building at home rather than losing them to larger markets abroad.
Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc., a Georgian-backed quantum computing company, intends to convert part of the old factory into an advanced manufacturing facility. The site will produce photonic components, package and test chips, and assemble hardware for Xanadu’s next generation of quantum computers. Supported by a C$195 million federal investment, the project represents one of the most concrete attempts yet to turn Canada’s research strengths into domestic manufacturing capacity.
Physical AI as the next wave
Chong argues that physical AI is the next wave of intelligence. Unlike software that can be built anywhere with laptops and cloud access, these technologies need factories, metal, supply chains and workers who know how to build at scale. Canada has all of those things, he says, but has historically struggled to keep the companies it creates once they outgrow local capital and production capacity.
The Campbell’s Soup factory is symbolic of the opportunity. The plant opened nearly a century ago and eventually moved production out of Canada. Now a corner of the same industrial site will house one of the world’s most advanced emerging technologies. For Chong, that fusion of old manufacturing infrastructure and new science is exactly how Canada can finally scale the firms it invents.
From research to hardware
Xanadu is best known for developing photonic quantum computers, which use particles of light rather than superconducting circuits to perform calculations. The approach has attracted significant scientific and investor interest, but building the physical systems remains difficult and capital intensive. By manufacturing components domestically, Xanadu hopes to shorten development cycles, protect intellectual property and create a supply chain that does not depend entirely on foreign fabs.
The Toronto facility will handle several stages of production under one roof: making the photonic chips, packaging them, testing their performance and assembling complete systems. Vertical integration of that kind is rare in quantum computing and reflects a belief that the field is moving from laboratory prototypes toward engineered products.
Keeping value in Canada
Georgian’s broader strategy is to back companies that use data in trustworthy ways, and it has been an investor in Xanadu since 2019. The new facility aligns with a wider push to ensure that Canadian-founded companies do not simply license their technology or relocate their headquarters as they grow.
The federal government's C$195 million contribution signals that Ottawa shares that goal. Policymakers have grown concerned that Canada produces world-class research and startups only to see the economic benefits captured elsewhere, particularly in the United States. The Xanadu project is being framed as a test of whether public money can help anchor advanced manufacturing in Canada.
Challenges ahead
The plan is not without risk. Quantum computing is still years away from widespread commercial use, and the market for quantum hardware remains uncertain. Building a domestic supply chain for photonic components will require skilled workers, specialized equipment and reliable suppliers, none of which can be created overnight.
There is also competition. The United States, China and several European countries are investing heavily in quantum technology, often with larger budgets and deeper industrial bases. For Canada to keep companies like Xanadu from drifting toward those larger ecosystems, it will need more than a single facility. It will need a sustained pipeline of capital, talent and manufacturing partners.
A blueprint for other sectors
Chong hopes the Campbell's Soup factory project becomes a model for other areas of physical AI, including robotics, advanced semiconductors and climate technology. The argument is that Canada has already proved it can invent the future. The question is whether it can build it, own it and keep it.
If Xanadu's facility succeeds, it could encourage other investors and policymakers to back similar projects. If it struggles, it will reinforce the view that Canada's best companies inevitably scale somewhere else. For now, the old soup factory stands as a bet that the country's industrial past can be repurposed for its technological future.
