Canada Backs Xona’s Montreal Satellite Navigation Hub With $15 Million

Canada’s $15 million commitment to Xona Space Systems is designed to secure a lasting role for the country in the company’s satellite navigation program. The funding will support a Montreal hub and place the system’s command and control in Canada, tying the project’s growth to local jobs and sovereign capabilities.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the funding Oct. 20 at Space Canada’s SpaceBound conference in Gatineau, Que. She described the investment as an effort to anchor Xona in Canada over the long term, with the eventual aim of developing a sovereign satellite system for positioning, timing and navigation (PNT).

“The $15 million project is to really anchor Xona in Canada for the long run,” Joly told SpaceQ after the announcement. She said the Canadian command-and-control system would serve sovereignty goals and that the project would create jobs. Xona co-founder and chief technology officer Tyler Reid is from Montreal, she added.

Xona’s constellation plans

Xona, headquartered in Burlingame, California, is building its Pulsar satellite constellation for PNT services. The company says the system is intended to deliver “real-time, centimetre-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.” It launched a demonstration satellite in 2025, then sent two more into orbit on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-5 mission on the day of the announcement.

The Canadian investment arrives as Xona scales up after raising US$170 million (C$239 million) in a Series C round earlier this year. Mohari Ventures Natural Capital led the round. Joly called Xona one of the startups Canada could help scale, pointing to the company’s potential as well as its existing Montreal presence.

The funding was presented as part of a wider push to build Canada’s space industry. Joly said the government is working with companies to generate employment and intellectual property that can support growing businesses. She did not say whether the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) base budget would rise; it has largely stayed flat apart from allocations for specific projects such as Canadarm3.

Joly said investments in the CSA through the Defence Industrial Strategy exceed $400 million, describing them as a significant near-term boost. One possible example is funding for European Space Agency programs, which the agency’s 2026–27 plan connects to the strategy. Joly said the government’s goal is to keep increasing budgets while working with industry to build jobs and intellectual property.

Space strategy and security take focus

Joly also outlined several upcoming steps in national space planning. A new CSA president is awaiting Cabinet ratification, with an announcement expected in the coming days. Former astronaut Jeremy Hansen will serve as a special adviser to the prime minister and Joly on a new national space strategy.

She said she hopes to find a mission assignment within a year for CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who is a backup for Hansen’s Artemis II mission and has held other roles. Joly offered no details on whether Gibbons might fly with NASA or through a private operator, saying only that the assignment would be “very ambitious.”

SpaceBound is in its fifth year, and this year’s discussions placed greater emphasis on sovereignty and security. Companies in the United States and Europe have raised several funding rounds of nine figures this year for defence-related work, including PNT and Golden Dome. The conference’s focus reflects a broader shift toward the strategic role of space systems.

Brig.-Gen. Christopher Horner, commander of 3 Canadian Space Division, addressed reports that weapons are in orbit. He called the disclosure “terrifying,” while saying the U.S. aim is to establish “norms and conditions” for behaviour in space. Greater transparency, he said, can help countries identify improper behaviour and reduce the risk of miscalculation.

Horner urged attendees to focus on how countries respond to the presence of weapons in space. He also stressed the need for timely support for industry as companies weigh expensive projects that may take years to deliver. Joly said more Canadian space industry financing opportunities would be announced later in the week.

“If we become mired in the bureaucracy of procurement … we will fail each other,” Horner said, warning that delays could prevent the industry from delivering on its mandate. For Xona, the Montreal hub gives Canada a concrete stake in a growing PNT program; the next test will be whether government support translates into sustained local capability as the constellation expands.