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Nord Quantique co-founder and CEO Julien Camirand Lemire described the company’s approach to quantum error correction using microwave photons in superconducting cavities. He discussed its GKP and Tesseract code demonstrations, a four-qubit system expected to enter operation in 2026, and a company roadmap targeting error rates of 10^-7 to 10^-9 by 2032. The demonstrations and future targets are company-reported; the interview does not provide independent validation or the full technical data needed to assess them.
Nord Quantique co-founder and CEO Julien Camirand Lemire has outlined the company’s plan to perform quantum error correction using multiple microwave photons held in a single superconducting cavity, rather than relying chiefly on large numbers of physical qubits. In an interview published by The Quantum Insider on Oct. 31, 2026, he discussed the company’s reported GKP and Tesseract code demonstrations, a four-qubit system entering operation this year, and a longer-term target of error rates between 10^-7 and 10^-9 by 2032.
Lemire said Nord Quantique, founded in 2020 and based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is developing bosonic codes that encode quantum information in microwave photons stored in superconducting resonators. A cavity can hold multiple photons, providing a form of redundancy that the company aims to use for detecting and correcting errors. The approach is intended to reduce the physical-qubit overhead associated with error correction, though it does not remove the need to manage errors or establish that a practical, fault-tolerant computer has been achieved.
In the interview, Lemire described the company’s work with GKP grid-state codes and said its 2024 demonstration addressed both X and Z error channels. He also referred to a Tesseract code demonstration released in 2025, describing it as a multimode code that uses modes at different frequencies. These are claims and descriptions from the company’s CEO as presented in the interview; the source material provided here does not include the papers’ results, experimental conditions, or independent assessments.
The interview also identified a four-qubit system expected to enter operation in 2026 and a company roadmap aiming for error rates of 10^-7 to 10^-9 by 2032. Lemire said Nord Quantique’s quantum error-correction gain had more than doubled since 2024. The interview summary does not specify the metric, measurement conditions, or baseline behind that comparison, so it cannot be translated into a particular performance improvement.
Reducing the Qubit Overhead
Quantum computers are susceptible to noise, and error correction is widely viewed as a requirement for reliable, larger-scale computations. Conventional correction schemes can require many physical qubits to encode and protect one logical qubit. Nord Quantique’s approach seeks to supply some of that redundancy through multiple photons in a cavity, potentially limiting the number of separate qubits needed for error correction.
If the method can sustain useful error suppression as systems grow, it could offer a different route to building quantum hardware. But a compact encoding is not by itself proof of scalable computing: performance must be measured across relevant error channels, operations and system sizes. The company’s stated targets through 2032 are goals, not achieved results, and the interview does not establish how close the hardware is to meeting them.
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From Sherbrooke to Code Demonstrations
Nord Quantique was incorporated in 2020 as a spin-off of the Sherbrooke quantum ecosystem. Lemire said the company has offices in Sherbrooke and Montreal and characterized the regional ecosystem as a support for building its technology with relatively limited capital. The interview offers no financial figures or comparative data to quantify that characterization.
The company’s bosonic-code approach sits within a broader range of quantum error-correction strategies. Lemire contrasted Nord Quantique’s grid-state codes with cat-qubit work by Alice & Bob, which he described as suppressing one type of error while requiring the other to be addressed. The interview also discussed the difficulties of scaling transmon-based systems and the potential of high-rate codes. These comparisons reflect the discussion, not a like-for-like independent evaluation of the approaches.
““What we’re building is a technology that is called bosonic codes.””
— Julien Camirand Lemire, Nord Quantique co-founder and CEO, in The Quantum Insider interview
Performance Data Still Needed
The interview does not give the experimental measurements, error definitions or test conditions behind the company’s reported more-than-doubled error-correction gain. It also does not specify the precise operating status or capabilities of the four-qubit system beyond saying it is entering operation in 2026. The target range of 10^-7 to 10^-9 by 2032 is a roadmap goal, not a present-day result.
It remains unclear from this source how the demonstrations compare with other approaches under equivalent conditions, how the system performs as operations and modes are added, and what milestones the company will use to track progress. The interview alone does not establish whether the technology can deliver useful fault-tolerant computations at scale.
The Four-Qubit System’s Next Tests
The next development identified in the interview is operation of Nord Quantique’s four-qubit system during 2026. Results from that system, including its measured error rates, code performance and operating conditions, would help readers judge how the company’s demonstrations translate into a larger hardware platform.
Nord Quantique’s longer-term benchmark is its stated 2032 error-rate target. The company’s progress will depend on how it defines and reports those rates, whether the error-correction gain persists across more complex operations, and whether independent technical work can evaluate the results. The interview does not provide dates for further publications or testing milestones.
Key Questions
What is Nord Quantique developing?
The company is developing quantum hardware using bosonic codes, which encode information in microwave photons stored in superconducting cavities. It aims to use multiple photons in a cavity to provide redundancy for error correction.
What are the GKP and Tesseract codes?
As described by Lemire, GKP is a grid-state code for correcting quantum errors, and Tesseract is a multimode code that can use photon modes at different frequencies. The interview refers to demonstrations in 2024 and 2025 but does not include their full technical results.
Has Nord Quantique reached its 2032 error-rate target?
No such result is established in the interview. Error rates of 10^-7 to 10^-9 by 2032 are presented as a company roadmap target, not a current measured performance level.
What is the next stated milestone?
Lemire said a four-qubit system is entering operation in 2026. The interview does not provide a more specific date or a detailed list of tests and results expected from it.
Source: thequantuminsider.com
