Q&A: Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook enlists Telus to help build a quantum data centre in Toronto by 2030

Christian Weedbrook, CEO of the Toronto-based Xanadu, wants Canada to be an early adopter of quantum technology, which he said has the capacity to “change the world.” So, it makes sense that Xanadu partnered with Telus Corp., a Canadian telco, to help him on his company’s mission to build a quantum data centre in Canada’s largest city by the end of the decade. In an exclusive interview with The Wire Report, Weedbrook explained what sets photonic quantum computing apart, why data sovereignty will only become more important in the quantum age, as well as what the federal government can do to help. This partnership is focused on photonic quantum computing. So, my first question is — what the heck is photonic quantum computing? Quantum computers offer the promise of doing very big problems incredibly fast. A few years ago, we solved a big problem that would’ve taken supercomputers seven million years, but we solved it in two minutes. So, that’s the quantum computing part of it. On the photonic part, you can build a quantum computer out of quantum electronics, which we’re all familiar with, or you can build it out of quantum photonics. We’ve chosen a photonic-based approach, so you put them together using photons, which you can think of as light laser beams, fibre optics, and things like that. So, it’s a very, very fast computer that works under the laws of quantum physics. This partnership with Telus is looking at how these innovations could change traditional computing infrastructure in Canada. What would that look like? We have quantum computers now and so do others around the world, but they need to be bigger. So, they need to be essentially like a quantum data centre with hundreds of server acts that are networked together. That’s where we’re headed. With Telus, the sovereign aspect is very important here. This is two Canadian companies working together to build something big and powerful that’s based here in Canada. So, we can use their AI (artificial intelligence) expertise, and they also have expertise in advanced data centre operations. Even though it’s a quantum data centre, a lot of it is still reminiscent of normal data centres, so you need that expertise. Considering you signed an MOU with Telus, is this all theoretical for the moment? Or, are you looking to actually start building these data centres? It’s both depending on the time frame. We’re having initial discussions and planning stages at the moment, but, having said that, our goal is to build a quantum data centre in Toronto, throughout the world and throughout Canada. We need partners for that, so the hope is this will be a long-term relationship where we use their expertise along with the expertise we contribute and, specifically, the quantum computers themselves. What would the timeline be for building a quantum data centre in Toronto? The earliest date for a large-scale quantum computer that can do something dramatic, impressive and really change the world. We’ve publicly said 2029 or 2030, so that’s what we’re circling in the calendar. We’ve hit all our major hardware milestones in the past, and we’re confident we can move forward on that as well. That would mean a data centre in Toronto by the end of the decade? Exactly. You mentioned digital sovereignty. My rudimentary understanding of the quantum sector is that some people are concerned it might render traditional encryption methods useless. So, how do you square digital sovereignty and data control with a technology that, in theory, could make data security measures obsolete? That’s really what drove the interest in the early days of quantum computing, like in the 1990s. The idea was, if you can build a large enough quantum computer, then it has a very big application and that was the purview of governments around the world with regards to defence. You want that to be a sovereign power. You don’t want one country to have it and another country not to have it. So, it’s important that Canada has that. Having said that, there are solutions to quantum computers breaking the security internet. You can use what’s known as quantum safe codes, so they’re safe from quantum computers. We’re not working on that, but others are. That solves that problem. But the sovereign nature is really top-of-mind. Even if it’s not a quantum computer, like normal data centres, each country wants a certain amount of data to be able to compute on that and let it stay in their country of choice. You want to be wary of using Amazon or AWS as data centres because they’re based on data sovereign technology as well. Whether it’s quantum or classical data, governments around the world want it to be secure within their own country and stored on their shores. Is there something you’re specifically looking for from the federal and provincial governments? Funding is a key aspect. Capital is key and we’re seeing that in other countries around the world, so it’s important that Canada stays up to date and matches the pace. But also, I think becoming some of the early adopters and customers of this technology is really key as well. It’s not just in Canada, we’re seeing other governments do that as well. So, I’d say all of the above. Finally, there’s various Canadian telcos out there. What drew you to Telus? You want to work with companies that, in this case, are connected to data centres in general. In this case, it’s non-quantum and traditional data centres, so Telus fits that bill. Also, you want to work with those that are forward looking. You don’t want to have to continually convince someone to work with a new technology. They need to be on board and bought in, so Telus exhibits all those characteristics, which is really nice. dlegree@thewirereport.ca Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q&A: Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook enlists Telus to help build a quantum data centre in Toronto by 2030

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By Davis Legree
|March 20, 2026

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Q&A: Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook enlists Telus to help build a quantum data centre in Toronto by 2030

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