OTTAWA, April 26 -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday a new federal investment to create more semiconductors and grow the supply chain.

A total of 59.9 million Canadian dollars (43.8 million U.S. dollars) were earmarked to support projects from IBM Canada and the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (C2MI), one of Canada's microelectronics research and innovation leaders, according to a news release from the prime minister's office.

These projects, with a total value of 226.5 million Canadian dollars (165.8 million U.S. dollars), will support research into ground-breaking quantum technologies, add new manufacturing capacity and capabilities to IBM Canada's semiconductor packaging facility in Bromont, Quebec, and strengthen the semiconductor supply chain in Canada, the release said.

Canada and the United States are building a cross-border semiconductor manufacturing corridor, beginning with Canada and IBM providing a significant investment to develop new and expanded packaging and testing capabilities at its Bromont facility.

"With the demand for compute surging in the age of AI, advanced packaging and chiplet technology is becoming critical for the acceleration of AI workloads," Darío Gil, IBM's senior global vice-president said, "As one of the largest chip assembly and testing facilities in North America, IBM's Bromont facility will play a central role in this future."

Canada's semiconductor sector includes over 500 homegrown and multinational companies conducting research, development, and manufacturing of microchips. This includes over 100 design firms, 30 applied research laboratories, and five manufacturing facilities in areas such as compound semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems, and advanced packaging, the release said.

  - Xinhua