‘Tech is booming': Canada's first quantum computing hub boots up in southern Alberta

CTV News

2 days ago

A new quantum super hub launched by Economic Development Lethbridge is helping to make Lethbridge a national leader in advanced computing.
Businesses in southern Alberta are getting the chance to try out a publicly accessible supercomputer.
A quantum computing hub, created by SuperQ Quantum Computing, recently opened at the Tecconnect innovation centre at Economic Development Lethbridge.
SuperQ founder Muhammad Khan says the platform called Super is web-based and, similarly to ChatGPT, allows users to ask about complex real-world problems in plain English and come up with all possible solutions simultaneously.
Problems could include supply chain bottlenecks or manufacturing inefficiencies.
'The way it does it is by combining classical computing with quantum computing and doing all the complexity stuff under the hood,' Khan told The Canadian Press in a recent interview. 'Classical computing is what we use everyday on our computers, on our laptops.
'Classical computing would take one route, and if it fails, it comes back and takes another route. Whereas quantum computing takes all the possible routes at the same time. And as a result, it is able to figure out the maze a lot faster.'
Businesses in the city southwest of Calgary can trial the technology by asking questions like how to find efficient delivery routes or how to schedule staff to minimize overtime, Khan said.
Super is to eventually be made available to the broader public by licence. The Lethbridge Super hub is the first in a series of planned networks worldwide.
Other locations are set to be established elsewhere in Canada, the United States, Europe, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Khan said setting up the platform's nucleus in Lethbridge is a full-circle moment.
'I have a deep affection for Tecconnect as my entrepreneurial journey started there,' Khan said, adding the centre has helped facilitate emerging technologies in Alberta and Canada.
'That appetite to promote emerging technologies with a business focus is something that is not very common. And if you go to the big centres, it's hard to bring about these programs.'
Renae Barlow, vice-president of entrepreneurship and innovation at Economic Development Lethbridge, said emerging technologies, such as Tecconnect, can keep businesses competitive.
Local teams are offering workshops and training to help companies learn more about the platform, she said.
'Having businesses understand why it's important for them to integrate this (technology) and to be on the leading edge and to really create that competitive advantage is what we wanted for our southern Alberta businesses,' Barlow said.
'To understand that this actually puts them ahead.'
Khan said some businesses in telehealth have also reached out about using the platform to build artificial intelligence doctors.
'Their human doctors couldn't keep up with the demand,' he said. 'So that was done, but then the question was, 'How do you increase the accuracy of those AI clinicians?' And this is where we came in, and the Super platform came in to take those AI models to the next level.'
Barlow said there's been other interest in things like understanding global markets and even determining nutritional values for cattle.
The hub is also getting noticed by government officials.
Nate Glubish, Alberta's minister of technology and innovation, highlighted the hub on social media.
'Alberta tech is booming,' he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.
— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton