Buying Canadian matters more in the age of AI

As Canada accelerates its investment in artificial intelligence, a more urgent question is emerging: who controls the infrastructure that powers it? AI systems depend on vast computing capacity, sensitive data, and complex supply chains. When that infrastructure is owned or operated outside Canada, so too is a measure of control over knowledge, security, and economic value. Buying Canadian, where possible, is no longer only an economic choice. It is also a matter of safeguarding public investment, protecting sensitive research, and ensuring that the foundations of our AI future remain in Canadian hands. 

When Simon Fraser University (SFU) sets out to build research infrastructure, we don’t trust the job to just anyone. We have long championed partnerships that keep public infrastructure investment within the Canadian economy, while strengthening local communities, supporting Canadian businesses, and building capacity within Canada.

Buying Canadian is more than just being discerning consumers. It means giving upstart homegrown businesses the opportunities they need to thrive and prove themselves. It means being willing to work with them on emerging technologies and innovations, whenever possible. 

Much like Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, which establishes a Build–Partner–Buy framework, large institutions should aim to build what we can in Canada, expand our talent and capacity and create Canadian jobs. When we buy from abroad, we buy from Canada’s trusted trading partners.

In 2024, when we launched the SFU Clean Hydrogen Hub—Canada’s first such on-campus facility connecting academia, industry and government- we aimed to build something that had never been built before. We had the option to procure contracts from anywhere in the world. It may have been simpler to build in Europe or China, but it would not have taught us anything. We chose to work alongside Canadian companies to develop, test, and scale up new hydrogen technologies.

One of these companies is Cipher Neutron, a rapidly growing Toronto clean energy company specializing in high-efficiency Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Cipher is working with SFU to build two 250–kilowatt AEM electrolyser stacks—the technology needed to separate hydrogen from water to produce clean hydrogen. The technology is still evolving, so we need experts prepared to work with us through development, construction, and testing.

Cipher Neutron’s electrolyser stacks will use novel fluorine-free polymer membranes developed by Ionomr Innovations,which was founded at SFU. Ionomr is a four-time Global Cleantech 100 company and one of the Hydrogen Hub’s founding partners. Bringing the whole facility together is BC Research Inc. (BCRI) and NORAM Engineering, a Vancouver-based group that specializes in developing, demonstrating, and deploying process technologies for different chemical and energy industries. Clean hydrogen is important for BCRI and NORAM,and the collaboration enables them to expand their expertise, and grow their business,which would not have happened if we sourced the work overseas.

But the Hydrogen Hub is not the only project employing Canadian expertise. Across SFU’s Burnaby campus, the Cedar Supercomputing Centre is Canada’s largest public supercomputing facility. We are working with Montreal-based Hypertec on the recently announced secure, advanced computing platform, using their high-performance graphics processing units to support B.C. businesses and have partnered to build larger systems for Canada. 

Importantly, this deal not only provided Hypertec with a domestic buyer, it also opened up future interprovincial investment opportunities in Western Canada while supporting product research and development. Hypertec recently announced that it has partnered with NVidia as its first Canadian original equipment manufacturer, marking a significant leap for sovereign, Canadian-made AI infrastructure.

British Columbia-based start-up Moment Energy, a leader in energy storage, is also on board to develop backup energy systems for the supercomputing centre using repurposed electric vehicle batteries. Moment Energy was also founded by SFU alumni and represents a neat illustration of the impact SFU’s innovation ecosystem is having in boosting the domestic economy. We have also teamed up with Ottawa-based company Cerio, which specializes in composable disaggregated infrastructure and will help us improve efficiency and reduce power use, while also delivering high-speed connectivity.

The partnerships with Hypertec, Moment Energy and Cerio not only make the data centre more sustainable, they ensure a trusted, Canadian-built supply chain for the country’s most critical digital infrastructure. 

These Canadian companies are at the cutting edge of their industries. By supporting these emerging technologies, we are creating testbeds to scale Canadian innovation, while ensuring government investment in universities benefits the wider national economy. The opportunities for these companies are substantial when universities and other large institutions help de-risk and validate their products. 

We research and develop together, creating a safe, learning-focused environment for experimentation. Our commitment to working with them on emerging technologies—and to further developing the technologies they already have—makes a meaningful difference.

These projects connect government, academia, and industry to secure Canada’s leadership in clean energy and artificial intelligence. They strengthen national and economic sustainability and sovereignty.

At the same time, we are supporting a robust innovation ecosystem of Canadian companies, expertise and products—keeping original research and intellectual property in Canada, growing our own economy, and proving that world‑class innovation doesn’t need to come from somewhere else.