Calian advancing technology in Saskatchewan

Many local companies across Saskatchewan that were hurt due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are starting to bounce back as vaccinations are doled out.

But, Calian’s Advanced Technology division; which employs more than 400 people in Saskatoon, is continuing to build on it’s sustained growth that a pandemic couldn’t derail.

The division, formerly known as SED Systems is a global supplier for defence, deep space exploration, satellite operations and telecommunications.

“We were allowed to continue services because what we offer is mission-critical,” Advanced Technologies president Patrick Thera said. “(It’s) critical infrastructure that is needed for telecommunication systems in environments around the world. So, we had to keep running to keep everyone else running.”

“It’s pretty cool to see your product go internationally,” director of operations Michael Rennie echoed. “(To) see it actually supporting the global market of telecommunications.”

In recent years the division has undergone some major changes, the largest perhaps being their transition from using steel to composite carbon fibre, most notably in their satellite production.

“Composites are great with their opportunity to be a light weight, corrosion-resistant replacement to the typical manufacturing that you’d see of steels, aluminium and that sort of thing,” Rennie explained.

Even though the division which operates out of two different Bridge City locations generated $153-million in revenue in 2020, its president has his eye set on a larger target. Thera hopes his company can become a leader in manufacturing for Low Earth Orbiting satellites or LEOs; particularly the Telesat Lightspeed model which is based in Ontario.

“It’ll provide high-speed internet of fibre quality to remote locations, rural locations” Thera explained. “Places where you don’t normally get any internet services, much less that kind of quality. So, the doors it opens for the people of Saskatchewan, the people of Canada, the people of the world, is amazing.”

Thera says the company is currently looking to partner with either the provincial or federal government in an attempt to offset costs to keep this cutting edge technology made in Canada, and Saskatchewan.

“Having had a long career in Saskatchewan I can see the continuous drain of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) resources out of our province,” Thera said. “One of the best natural resources we have aside from the potash, the uranium, the oil … is our people, our intellectual horsepower, which is consistently drawn from larger companies outside of Saskatchewan.”

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