Most people don’t think about time as critical, but precise timing is what keeps modern life running. It allows cellular networks to operate without interference, financial markets to maintain fairness by processing transactions in the correct order, and power grids to remain balanced and stable. Modern navigation is also made possible with that precision timing.

Today, everything from telecom networks to data centers rely on those signals to stay synchronized. As infrastructure becomes more connected and distributed, timing has also become the backbone of modern life, determining who holds critical data, when it was held, and for how long. 

Canada’s critical infrastructure sectors depend on precise and reliable Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services. Today, many of these systems rely on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), whose timing sources are defined outside of Canada. 

Maintained by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), UTC(NRC) is Canada’s realization of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). However, distributing this timescale to infrastructure across Canada, particularly in remote or northern regions, remains challenging. Current GNSS do not provide direct access to Canada’s sovereign time standard.

Xona has entered into a research and development collaboration with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to strengthen the resilience and security of Canada’s timing infrastructure. Together, ISED, the NRC and Xona aim to demonstrate how next-generation satellite technology can increase the resilience of critical infrastructure while laying the groundwork for a more robust national PNT timing capability in the future. This work has received funding through Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC)'s Canadian Safety and Security Program  

At the core of this effort is Pulsar, the satellite network in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) designed to broadcast high-power, secure PNT signals that are far more resistant to interference than systems in use today. With modern software-defined satellites designed for rapid scale, Pulsar is designed to broadcast multiple national time standards, allowing countries to transmit official temporal references via a shared satellite,. 

By exploring LEO-based PNT as a complement and alternative to existing GNSS services, and transmitting Canada’s official time signal, UTC(NRC), directly from space, this project will demonstrate how Canada’s official time standard could be distributed anywhere without reliance on internet or wired connections - an important step toward enhancing Canada’s timing resilience and sovereign independence.

As countries look for more resilient and flexible ways to support critical systems, Pulsar’s ability to broadcast national multiple timing standards from the United Kingdom, United States, and now Canada offers a new path forward.

For Xona, Canada is an especially important part of that future, where we’re continuing to expand our presence in the region and build new capabilities alongside our partners. We’re actively hiring in Montréal, with several open roles.