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The Canadian government is getting ready to invest C$240 million (about US$187 million) into what the country calls the Semiconductor Challenge Callout. C$90 million of that will go towards the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC), was der Name schon sagt, a facility that engineers and manufactures a range of photonics products, mostly on the prototyping level. The remaining C$150 million is up for grabs through the Strategic Innovation Fund, which is a government fund set up to help Canadian companies grow.

François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry is quoted as saying “By investing in Canada’s semiconductor industry, we are making a firm commitment to businesses looking to invest in Canada. Whether it’s high-value or large-scale manufacturing, we want to see Canada be home to the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers.”. Exactly which companies will be asking for a share of the money is currently up in the air, but according to The Register, the Canadian government is looking for a wide range of potential semiconductor related businesses. Some examples are 2.5D and 3D chip packaging, MEMS sensor manufacturing and so on. None of this is compared to what the US, EU, Taiwan, Korea and the PRC are currently working on, but it could very well end up being supplemental to much of what’s going on in the US semiconductor market right now.