Building Canada's manufacturing future, one lab at a time

A milestone for Canadian innovation

Canada is at an inflection point. Our manufacturing sector stands on the edge of a profound transformation that is happening globally; one driven by artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, and next-generation wireless connectivity. The question is not whether this transformation will happen; it is whether Canadian companies will lead it or simply follow.

On April 16, 2026, we gathered at Centre national intégré du manufacturier intelligent (CNIMI or National Integrated Centre for Intelligent Manufacturing in English) in Drummondville, Quebec, to answer that question with action. Together, CENGN, Ericsson Canada, and CNIMI announced the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab: a facility purpose-built to give Canadian startups and scaleups the real-world testing environment they need to bring their most ambitious ideas to market.

This was more than a ribbon-cutting or one-off. It is a bet on the ingenuity of Canadian innovators and a statement that Canada's manufacturing future will be built right here at home.

From Sandra Cutrona, CENGN

Closing the gap between lab and factory floor

At CENGN, we've spent years listening to what Canadian startups actually need. Time and again, the answer is the same: access. Not just access to capital or mentorship, but access to real-world test environments where they can stress-test their technologies against the conditions they'll face every day.

The commercialization gap: between a promising prototype and a market-ready product is where too many brilliant Canadian companies have stumbled. The Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab exists to close it.

"By providing our comprehensive validation services alongside access to real-world environments, like the Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab, we enable Canadian innovators to bring their cutting-edge technologies to market faster and with greater confidence." 
Sandra Cutrona,  President & CEO, CENGN

The advanced manufacturing living lab is the eighth facility in the CENGN Living Lab Initiative, which is a national program backed by a $45 million investment from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). Our goal is ambitious but clear: support more than 100 Canadian startups and scaleups in validating and commercializing their technologies across key economic sectors.

What makes this lab different is its setting. CNIMI's 2,800 m² factory-lab in Drummondville is an active, working innovation hub dedicated to industrial transformation. When a company tests their solution here, they are testing it in conditions that mirror the factory floors their customers operate every day. That kind of authenticity builds confidence in a way that no controlled lab environment can replicate.

Participating companies can engage through two pathways. An  Innovation project provides up to $250K in co-investment funding and access to CENGN's expertise to validate and certify solutions for market entry. An  Adoption project goes further, pairing a startup directly with a potential customer with up to $500K in co-investment to validate against that customer's specific operational needs. Both pathways accelerate the journey from invention to impact.

 

Why Private 5G is the foundation Smart Manufacturing deserves

Ericsson has been connecting Canadians for more than 70 years. Through every generation of mobile technology, our mission to help businesses has remained constant: to provide the most reliable, capable infrastructure so that innovators can focus on what they do best. The Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab represents one of the most meaningful expressions of that mission we have undertaken.

Manufacturing environments are demanding in ways that general-purpose wireless networks were simply not designed to handle. Latency, reliability, security, and density of connected devices are not nice-to-haves on a factory floor: they are non-negotiable.

“We're proud to provide our state-of-the-art Private 5G technology to drive secure, ultra-reliable connectivity for smart factories and AI-powered automation. We believe this lab will accelerate the commercial success of Canadian manufacturing startups.” Nishant Grover, President, Ericsson Canada

At the Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab, our Private 5G deployment, including 5G Indoor Advanced Positioning (5G IAP), enables a generation of use cases that were simply not possible before. Companies testing their solutions here can validate against the connectivity conditions their customers will expect:

• Indoor positioning systems: with high positioning accuracy, enabling real-time asset and personnel tracking across large production facilities.
• Integrated sensor and machine solutions: that stream high-density telemetry data with the ultra-low latency that time-sensitive industrial control demands.
• Autonomous stationary and mobile robotics: including platforms like the Unitree Go2 robot dog, capable of conducting surveillance, inspection, and quality assurance rounds without human intervention.

For Ericsson Canada, this partnership also reflects our assertion that innovation happens best in ecosystems, not in isolation. With R&D centres in Montréal and Ottawa and an average annual R&D investment of almost $400 million in Canada, we are committed to this country's technological future, not as a vendor, but as a long-term ecosystem partner in building it.

Private 5G in action: The demonstrations

At the April 16 launch event, attendees witnessed three live demonstrations that brought the lab's capabilities to life — each powered by Ericsson Private 5G.

Robot dog surveillance

A Unitree Go2 robot dog conducted live inspection rounds through the CNIMI facility, verifying safety compliance — including whether students were wearing protective glasses and whether exterior doors were secured. A remote supervisor monitored the entire round via a high-definition live video feed, made possible by Private 5G's low-latency transmission and comprehensive indoor coverage. No corner of the facility was out of reach.

 

AI-Powered assembly inspection

Averian's AI Validator platform performed real-time inspection of component assembly on a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Using an IP camera connected over Private 5G, the system detected assembly errors instantly and surfaced them directly to the operator — demonstrating how AI and next generation connectivity together can eliminate costly production defects before they reach the next stage of manufacturing. This is the kind of precision quality assurance that can transform a production line.

 

Remote assistance with smart glasses

An employee with no prior training on CNIMI's robotics wore Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses while a remote technical expert guided them through startup and verification procedures in real time. The Private 5G connection delivered a video stream of high enough quality that the expert could see exactly what the employee saw — and respond with the clarity and speed that real technical assistance demands. This scenario has immediate applications across distributed manufacturing operations and skilled trades support.

 

Canada's innovation Network, strengthened

What excites us most about this initiative is not any single technology or any single company, it is the ecosystem it creates. The CENGN Living Lab Initiative connects participants to a pan-Canadian network of innovation hubs, technology leaders, and sector-focused organizations. A startup that walks through the doors of the Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab in Drummondville gains access to relationships, resources, and visibility that extend far beyond Quebec.

Averian, the Ottawa-based AI company serving as the inaugural demonstration partner, is a vivid example of this potential. Their AI Validator platform, built for precision defect detection and automated quality assurance in mission-critical production environments is exactly the kind of made-in-Canada innovation that deserves a world-class stage. The Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab gives them that stage, in a live environment where the technology speaks for itself.

The federal government, through ISED and the Strategic Response Fund, shares our conviction that the returns on this investment will be substantial: GDP growth, the creation and safeguarding of high-value technology jobs and the acceleration of Canadian products into global markets. Minister

Canadian ideas should be tested, refined, and taken to markets worldwide. We agree.

An invitation to build

Canada does not lack ambition. What it has sometimes lacked is infrastructure and the physical, technical, and financial supports that turn ambition into achievement. The Advanced Manufacturing Living Lab is part of our collective answer to that gap.

If you are a Canadian startup or scaleup working on solutions for advanced manufacturing like sensors, robotics, applied AI, industrial IoT, or anything in between, we want to hear from you. The lab is open. The technology is ready. And the opportunity to help define what Canadian manufacturing looks like in the next decade is here, right now.

Together, we are not just building a lab. We are building the foundation of Canada's manufacturing future through technology.

Learn more:

To learn more about the CENGN Living Lab Initiative and how your company can participate, visit cengn.ca/living-lab-initiative or contact services@cengn.ca.

CENGN Partners with CNIMI and Ericsson to Open Advanced Private 5G Manufacturing Lab - CENGN

To explore Ericsson Private 5G solutions, visit ericsson.com.