DistriQ Sherbrooke
Among the First Innovation Zones Designated by the Gouvernement du Québec
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As a para-municipal organization for economic development, dedicated to the manufacturing and technology sectors, Sherbrooke Innopole has been an essential partner of the Innovation Zone from the very beginning of the process, during which we provided leadership until the creation of the lead organization, DistriQ.
With all the Innovation Zone’s partners, we will help stimulate the economic dynamism of Sherbrooke in an industry of the future, quantum technologies. We will remain key players in terms of, among other things:
- Assistance for local manufacturing and technology businesses
- Business, investment, and workforce attraction
- Aid in the creation of innovative businesses
The Sherbrooke Innovation Zone in a Nutshell
- A technology sector with strong potential for innovation, wealth creation, exportation, and talent attraction
- Major public and private investments
- Increased synergy between research, innovation, industry, and training
- Accessible spaces and equipment for your R&D projects
- Concerted support for the integration of advanced manufacturing technologies
- Collaborative research to accelerate your innovation projects
- State-of-the-art training and development opportunities for the next generation and your workforce
Three Interrelated Sectors in the Heart of Sherbrooke
Innovation – ACELP Park
1. Technological Innovation and Circular Economy Hub (CITEC)
A proper working environment, exemplary in both its energy management and eco-friendly approach, the CITEC will include small industrial spaces, which can be easily reconfigured, to accommodate tech start-ups at the beginning of manufacturing and marketing, before their transfer to an industrial or technological park.
2. Institut quantique
The Institut quantique is a research institute of the Université de Sherbrooke bringing together world-renowned scientists specializing in quantum materials, quantum information and quantum engineering, to carry out fundamental research and develop the quantum technologies of the future.
Innovative Manufacturing
3. Usine CINQ – Center for Digital and Quantum Innovation
This project consists of a welcome hub, as well as pooling services, made up of four technical platforms roofed together in a collaborative building. The Usine CINQ will offer training and R&D spaces where professional, college and university level teaching institutions, as well as manufacturing companies, will coexist. Training programs and development projects revolve around a central theme: the transition to digital technologies and advanced manufacturing. Ultimately, this project aims to establish a sustainable strategy to deploy a skilled workforce familiar with modern manufacturing solutions.
4. Espace Quantique 1
A multi-unit building project with private offices, collaborative workspaces, and a shared laboratory for the development of quantum technologies.
Downtown
5. Entrepreneurship Headquarters
A building which will bring together para-municipal organizations of economic development in Sherbrooke – Sherbrooke Innopole, Entreprendre Sherbrooke, Destination Sherbrooke –, partners and businesses.
What Is an Innovation Zone?
An innovation zone refers to a delineated geographical territory where several socio-economic stakeholders – companies, economic development organizations, research and teaching institutions, and municipalities – collaborate to accelerate the commercialization of innovation, exports, local and foreign investment, the attraction of talent, as well as business productivity, around the technology sectors of the future.
Multi Sectorial Technology Applications
Several sectors of activity will benefit from research and technological advances in quantum technologies: manufacturing, IT, health, pharmacology, electrical and intelligent transportation, and more!
- High-performance sensors that can be used in the digitization of industrial processes, preventive maintenance, connected objects, etc.
- Advanced materials
- Next-generation semiconductors
- High precision medical imaging technologies
- Medical or other miniaturized devices
- Digital therapeutics
- Artificial intelligence
- Logistics
- Encryption algorithms and cyber security systems
- Development of chemicals and pharmaceuticals by way of simulation
- Solving complex analysis and optimization problems
- Deployment of autonomous vehicle fleets
- Etc.
According to the National Research Council Canada, the quantum technology sector could generate annual revenues of $142.4 billion and employ 229,000 people in 2040.
Pioneering Businesses
Startups and world leaders have chosen Sherbrooke to develop revolutionary technologies and promising collaborations.

High-performance computing to solve problems that are costly in computing resources, in collaboration with the industry.

Pioneering tomorrow's responsible digital services

Nanoacademic develops atomic and quantum simulation software tools to predict the properties of next-generation materials and devices, including QTCAD® software, which can model quantum dots in advanced electronic devices to determine the properties of qubits.

Higher performance, lower resource cost quantum processors to create next-generation quantum computers.

Quantum computers from ordered neutral atoms in 2D and 3D arrays

A new generation of quantum microwave signal transmitters and receivers for remote sensing, imaging, and communications systems.

Building quantum magnetics for Earth and Space, combining the unmatched accuracy of its vector quantum magnetometer with advanced magnetic interpretation and compensation algorithms, to redefine what is possible with magnetics for navigation, mining and defense.

Non-profit organization assisting researchers and industrial businesses through Canada’s National Design Network® with the development and adoption of micro-nano technology innovations.

The Digital and Quantum Innovation Platform (PINQ²) supports companies in their digital transformation, facilitates collaboration between industry and research, and trains future talents by providing accessible digital, hybrid, and quantum solutions to all Quebec-based businesses and academic university networks and CCTTs (College Centres for Technology Transfer).