Creation of Luqia: the leading industrial innovation laboratory in photonics and artificial intelligence
With more than 250 experts based at Luqia’s facilities in Québec City and Montréal, SMEs, large corporations, and institutional partners will have access, starting April 1, to multidisciplinary expertise and secure infrastructure enabling them to design, test, and deploy high impact technologies, particularly in critical sectors such as defense, aerospace, cybersecurity, Arctic surveillance, and space.
A Strategic Partner Addressing Today’s Challenges
In a context of trade tensions and the reconfiguration of global value chains, local mastery of critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, photonics, and quantum is becoming decisive. Luqia aims to provide this competitive advantage to Québec and Canadian companies and will help strengthen national defense capabilities.
By leveraging the synergy between photonics and artificial intelligence, Luqia’s teams are paving the way for a new generation of intelligent systems combining ultra high precision optical sensors with AI algorithms capable of capturing, interpreting, and acting on complex data in real time, an essential capability for autonomous platforms, advanced surveillance systems, and national security applications.
The creation of Luqia has been made possible in part through financial support from the Government of Canada, through Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and from the Government of Québec, with the objective of strengthening Canadian industrial innovation capacity in critical technological fields related to artificial intelligence, photonics, and national security.
Quotes
“Today, we are democratizing access to powerful drivers of economic development, strengthening the competitiveness of our industries in a context of trade tensions, and stimulating innovation in critical sectors such as defense, aerospace, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing.”
Sébastien Proulx, Chair of the Board of Directors, Luqia
“It is essential to prepare industrial sectors for tomorrow’s reality, marked by the rapid convergence of artificial intelligence, photonics, and quantum technologies. Economies that are able to develop and locally master these critical technologies will gain a decisive lead in a global context characterized by the reconfiguration of value chains and intensifying competition.”
Alain Chandonnet, President and Chief Executive Officer, Luqia
“Artificial intelligence offers immense potential, but its deployment in critical applications requires rigor, validation, and reliability. We are proud to combine our expertise within Luqia to accelerate the transition from ideas to robust, operational industrial solutions, for the benefit of organizations here at home and collective security.”
Françoys Labonté, Executive Vice President, Luqia
About Luqia
Created through the merger of the activities of the Institut national d’optique INO and the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal CRIM, Luqia is a brand new industrial innovation laboratory positioned at the intersection of academia and industry. It brings together, within a single entity, expertise in artificial intelligence, advanced photonics, and quantum technologies.
Luqia offers a unique capacity in research and development and high performance pre commercial prototyping, enabling the conversion of discoveries in AI and photonics into market ready products. This generates significant socioeconomic benefits for companies in Québec and Canada, while also contributing to national security.
Its activities, made possible through sustained collaboration with Québec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, help increase productivity, enhance business competitiveness, and strengthen Québec’s and Canada’s technological autonomy.