2026 Preliminary Program

7:30 - 8:30 AM | Registration & Networking Breakfast

Arrival, badge pickup, and informal networking ahead of the opening plenary.

9:00 - 9:15 AM | Opening Remarks

Setting the context for CHIPS NORTH 2026:

• The global forces reshaping technology, security, and competitiveness
• Why this moment matters for Canada's future
  
• How the day moves from insight to action

9:15 - 10:15 AM | Flagship Plenary Panel

From Potential to Power: Canada's Semiconductor Moment

Canada has the ingredients: talent, research depths, clean energy, trusted geopolitical standing, and globally competitive companies. The question isn't whether Canada can participate in the next semiconductor era. The question is whether we can translate potential into sustained strategic advantage.

This high-level executive dialogue sets the tone for the Summit by examining four national priority themes, before participants  move into focused Executive Breakout Sessions later in the day:

• AI Chips
• Defense & Dual Use
• Quantum Chips
• Optocomputing

Discussion topics include:

• Where is Canada leading, lagging, or uniquely positioned?
• What are the global forces Canada cannot afford to ignore?
• Which capabilities must be built or scaled in the next five years?
• Where is industry-government alignment most urgently required?

10:15 - 10:45 AM | Networking Break

10:45 - 11:45 AM | Keynote Address

Speaker announcement coming soon.

11:45 - 12:00 PM | Executive Breakout Briefing

A focused alignment session before moving into the afternoon’s Executive Breakout discussions.

This brief plenary will:

• Introduce the breakout sessions and their strategic intent
• Clarify the core questions each group will tackle
• Define the expected outcomes and how insights will be synthesized

12:00 - 1:30 PM | Lunch & Featured Guest

Speaker announcement coming soon.

2:00 - 3:00 PM | Executive Breakout Sessions

Participants select one executive-level breakout session aligned with their primary business, policy, or investment priorities. Each facilitated session is designed to move beyond discussion toward practical direction and shared signals. Key takeaways from each breakout will be synthesized and presented by the Session Chairs during the Closing Plenary.

Across all sessions, outputs include:

• 2-3 actionable recommendations
• 1-2 potential collaborative initiatives
• Clear priority signals for policymakers

Optocomputing

Beyond silicon: electrons to photons

The separation of "electronics" and "optics" is a relic of the past that the AI era can no longer afford. As data center power consumption reaches a breaking point, the industry must move toward monolithic integration.

This session will discuss and lay out the blueprint for the Electro-Photonic IC (EPIC) Cluster in Canada centred on the recently proposed spin-off of the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC). They will challenge the current "plug-and-play" approach to optics and argue that the only way to sustain the AI revolution is to treat light as a first-class citizen on the silicon wafer.

• The Death of the Plug: Why the future is 'co-packaged' and 'monolithic'
• The Economic Reality: How to drive down the cost-per-bit by 10x using architectural breakthroughs
• The North American Corridor: Why Canada and the US must unite to dominate the EPIC supply chain before global competitors close the gap

Defense & Dual Use

Security, supply chains, and strategic advantage

A focused discussion on dual-use semiconductor technologies, secure supply chains, and the role of industry in strengthening national and allied capabilities.

This panel focuses on several critical pillars:

• From Chips to Guns: How Canadian microelectronics companies could become part of the build up of Canadian defense capabilities, be visible in the procurement process and have a "seat at the table".
• Dual-Use Innovation: Identifying commercial semiconductor advancements (such as AI chips and compound semiconductors) that have direct applications in military defense and intelligence.
• Geopolitics & Trade: Navigating export controls, ITAR regulations, and international partnerships (such as the EU-Canada defense industrial cooperation).
• Security of Supply: Ensuring that the chips powering critical infrastructure remain resilient against global disruptions.

AI Chips

Where are we going — and how do we get there?

A strategic discussion on Canada’s path from AI research strength to domestic AI hardware capability—covering supply, energy constraints, advanced packaging, and trusted deployment at scale.

• National AI Supply Chain: Integrating Canadian-designed accelerators into domestic data centers, and reducing dependence on externally allocated hardware.
• The Energy-Compute Nexus: Aligning chip efficiency, data center deployment, and provincial grid capacity as power becomes the defining constraint.
• Advanced Packaging as a Back Door to Manufacturing: Using chiplets and heterogeneous integration to build Canadian relevance without a leading-edge foundry.
• Trusted & Quantum-Ready AI Hardware: Embedding hardware and post-quantum readiness into AI chips used for government, defence, and critical infrastructure.

Quantum Chips

From research to reality — when and how to scale

Quantum has moved beyond “can we build it?” For executives and policymakers, the urgent questions are how to industrialize the technology, secure it in a volatile geopolitical environment, and build the infrastructure needed to commercialize it.

• The Industrialization Pivot: Moving toward CMOS-compatible quantum chips and scalable processes that shift the conversation to yield, reliability, and manufacturability.
• PQC & Hardware Security Mandates: Embedding quantum-resistant security directly into chip architectures to meet federal requirements and protect against “harvest now, decrypt later” threats.
• Sovereign Capability & IP Retention: Defining what “sovereign supply chains” mean for quantum chips, including how to keep IP and talent anchored in Canada while integrating globally.
• Infrastructure Gap (Packaging, Cryogenics, Control): Specializing in the “interface” technologies that connect cold quantum chips to warm classical systems, including thermal management and advanced packaging.
• Quantum-as-a-Service & Early Use Cases: Identifying day-zero applications in energy, defence, and logistics—and the incentives needed to bridge pilots into production.



Investing in Canada's Semiconductor Advantage

In partnership with the Ottawa Tech Investment Summit

This breakout session brings together investors, industry leaders, and founders to explore Canada’s emerging semiconductor and photonics investment opportunities, examining where domestic capabilities align with scalable commercial growth across the value chain. As global supply chains rebalance and governments prioritize trusted technology ecosystems, Canada is well positioned in compound semiconductors, photonics, advanced design, manufacturing, and system-level innovation.

The session opens with the panel “From Ground to Chip,” featuring leading private investors alongside venture and strategic investment arms of global semiconductor companies, examining how capital is being deployed across the value chain and where Canada is uniquely positioned to lead.The discussion will be complemented by two company presentations.

• From Ground to Chip: Investment opportunities across the semiconductor value chain, from critical materials and IP to finished devices and systems.
• Capital Deployment & Market Signals: How private, strategic, and venture capital is being deployed—and where near- and mid-term growth opportunities are emerging.
• Commercialization Pathways: How Canadian companies move from innovation to scale, including customer pull, manufacturing readiness, and system integration.
• Resilient Supply Chains: How domestic capabilities can reduce reliance on fragile global inputs while strengthening long-term competitiveness.

3:00 - 3:30 PM | Networking Break



3:30 - 4:30 PM | Closing Plenary

What Canada Should Do Next

A moderated synthesis bringing together insights from each Executive Breakout Session to identify:

• Common themes and divergences
• National priorities and near-term actions
• Strategic direction moving forward

4:30 - 5:00 PM | Closing Remarks

5:00 - 6:00 PM | Cocktail Reception

Relaxed networking to continue conversations and build connections following the day's program.

7:00 - 9:00 PM | Semiconductor Achievement Awards Dinner

Celebrating excellence in Canada's semiconductor sector

An elegant evening honouring leaders and organizations shaping Canada’s semiconductor sector, featuring a refined dinner program and networking opportunities.

Separate ticket required.



9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |  Industry Tours

Exclusive site visits of Canada’s largest technology park, hosted in partnership with the Kanata North Business Association.

Limited capacity. Advance registration required.

1:00 - 5:00 PM | CSC Working Group Meetings

In-person meetings for members and invited guests of CSC's Automotive Microchips, Talent & Workforce Development, and AI Chips Working Groups.

1:00-2:00 PM | New! Manufacturing Working Group

Canada's semiconductor manufacturing sector is at a critical juncture. Participants will come together to identify the most pressing challenges facing manufacturers across the country, from capacity and infrastructure gaps to access to specialized resources, and define the priorities and mandate for a new CSC-led Manufacturing Working Group.

2:00-3:00 PM | Talent & Workforce Development Working Group

Talent is one of the most significant constraints on growth across Canada's semiconductor industry. This session will address key gaps in the pipeline, examine strategies for international recruitment and immigration, and assess what's working and what isn't in engaging government on immigration reform. Participants will also discuss promising post-secondary initiatives highlighted in CSC's 2025 Talent Report and explore which can be scaled nationally.

3:00-4:00 PM | AI Chips Working Group

This session will focus on the real challenges Canadian SMEs face in AI hardware development and where collective action can make the biggest difference. Discussion will cover whether Canada's emphasis should be on data center infrastructure or edge computing, and the key advocacy priorities needed to move the sector forward.

4:00-5:00 PM | Automotive Microchips Working Group

Significant gaps remain in Canada's automotive microelectronics supply chain. Building on CSC’s Automotive Microchips Working Group report, participants will identify the highest-priority capabilities to develop domestically, draw on international supply chain models, and explore opportunities to strengthen Canada’s role in automotive microelectronics.

5:00 - 6:15 PM | International Delegates Reception

Hosted by Invest Ottawa in partnership with Canada’s Semiconductor Council, this reception welcomes international CHIPS NORTH semiconductor ecosystem delegates for informal networking ahead of the Summit.

By invitation for international delegates. For additional information, please contact Sadiyah Manidhar  at smanidhar@investottawa.ca

7:00 - 9:00 PM | CSC Members' Private VIP Reception

A private reception for CSC members, offering a high-level opportunity to connect with executives and policymakers ahead of the Summit.

Limited capacity. One representative per member organization.