Project will advance Canada's next-generation satellite navigation capabilities and deliver on dual-use objectives under Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy
OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 20, 2026 /CNW/ -- Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, announced a $15 million investment through the Strategic Response Fund to advance Xona Space Systems Canada, Inc.'s $64.8 million project to establish a mission operations and space systems development and manufacturing centre in Montréal, Quebec. In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, the Government of Canada is rebuilding and reinvesting in our defence industrial base and expanding our sovereign space capabilities.
The new centre will be a Canadian hub for mission operations, satellite systems development and advanced manufacturing. This project will build up domestic advanced manufacturing and space capabilities and will enable the long-term deployment, operation and commercialization of Pulsar, a commercial, high-performance low Earth orbit–based positioning, navigation and timing system. Through this project, Xona will expand its operations in Montréal, creating approximately 126 highly skilled jobs and adding manufacturing capacity, mission control facilities, specialized testing infrastructure and engineering expertise to Canada's domestic defence supply chain. As emerging threats and technologies change, these crucial sovereign capabilities will enhance Canada's ability to operate effectively and securely in the Arctic.
The Government of Canada is changing how it invests in defence. By supporting companies like Xona, it is investing in the dual-use defence technologies that are critical to strengthening our economic and national security and creating good jobs at home. Through Canada's first Defence Industrial Strategy and the Positioning, Navigation and Timing Resilience Framework, the government is rebuilding our sovereign industrial capabilities in key space technology areas and reinforcing a resilient industrial ecosystem that creates high-paying careers across the supply chain and serves both commercial innovation and national security needs.
Quotes
"Canada's future depends on investing in the industries that underpin our economic and national security. By supporting Xona Space Systems Canada, our government is investing in the advanced space capabilities we need to strengthen our security, helping create jobs in Canada and building a more resilient defence industrial base. Investing in a strong Canadian space industry is fundamental to building a strong, sovereign and secure Canada, for all Canadians."
The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
"Canada has what the world wants, and Montréal is well placed to help position our country as a global leader in next-generation satellite navigation technologies. Our investment to expand Xona Space Systems Canada in our community will create highly skilled jobs that advance innovation and build Canada strong."
The Honourable Anna Gainey, Secretary of State (Children and Youth) and Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount
"Becoming a global leader in navigation requires building a manufacturing, engineering and operational backbone that grows with our service. Expanding our footprint in Montréal creates new industrial capability in Canada and an important new node to Xona's operational resilience, giving us more capacity to build, operate and evolve Pulsar to become the most trusted satellite navigation service for users around the world."
Tyler Reid, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Xona
Quick facts
Incorporated in 2019, Xona Space Systems Canada, Inc. is a space technology company that specializes in developing next-generation positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies.
Pulsar is designed to complement existing global navigation satellite systems, such as GPS and Galileo, by providing more secure, accurate and resilient PNT services, particularly in environments where traditional satellite navigation systems are weak or unavailable. The technology supports transportation, defence, telecommunications, critical infrastructure, emergency response and Arctic operations.
The project will strengthen Canada's capabilities in satellite operations, advanced manufacturing, resilient navigation technologies and the domestic space supply chain.
The Strategic Response Fund supports large-scale, transformative projects that strengthen Canada's industrial capabilities, improve economic resilience and support innovation in strategically important sectors.
In 2024, Canada's space sector contributed $3.8 billion to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP). The global space economy is forecast to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2035.
Noah Note: So this is an interesting one. Xona is a bit of a weird comoany in this regard. They are a California-based company founded back in 2019 with an extensive connection to Canada.
Mr. Reid himself as noted is Canadian, and Xona Space Systems Canada was founded the same year the wider company was established. The Montreal office opened back in September 2024 in the old RCA Victor building. The company has also gone through the Creative Destruction Lab space stream, CSA SmartEarth, NRC IRAP, and has received several contracts from both the CSA and ESA regarding PNT.
This mew facility will not be end-to-end. Instead, Montreals will serve as a backuo and support to the companies main operations in Burlingame, while providing a soverign ecosystem in Canads for operations to be localized. Pulsar buses will still be primarily built in Burlingame, with Montreal manufacturing critical components.
There were some using the wording from Madame Joly yesterday to claim that the entire C2 ecosystem would be moved to Montreal, but that is not the case. Instead, Montreal will serve as a Canadian hub amd a backup to Burlingame. It is still a soverign control and mission capacity, don't make a mistake. It is still a Canadian facility with the indeoendent capscity to opwrate in that role, but it doesnt replace Burlingame as the main hub.
For the Feds, building a sovereignish GPS alternative, as they describe it, is among the more ambitious and quiet goals set out over the last year (and aligns to the PNT Resilience Framework). It hasn't been discussed much, and it isnt firmly in policy as of now, however, there is a significant push to ensure this capability is included when it comes to building our sovereign soace ecosystem.
This isn't fully sovereign mind you, nor is it ti the scale and control of other constellations. Is it good enough for now? Probably. The goal isnt to remive GPS, but to have a more Canadian supplement. This fits that goal fairly well, all things considered. We aint spending billions upon billions in the next ten, twenty yeats to huild a Canadian alternative.
This provides a short and medium-term solution if we exercise on it likely fine enough to what we need, and gets a bit of a champagne moment for everyone involved.