PERIMETER INSTITUTE CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY
From Sept. 20-27, the Perimeter Institute celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with a week-long festival, including an open house, public lectures and film screenings.
The Waterloo-based research centre was founded in 1999 by Mike Lazaridis, the Greek-Canadian businessman who co-founded Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. The festival provided public events to help the community learn more about the institute and how modern scientific discoveries are enhancing Canada’s innovation advantage, fuelling new industries, and opening new paths in AI, energy, climate and medicine.
Weekend activities on Sept. 20 and 21 included A Peek Inside Perimeter, an open house where attendees explored interactive exhibits on theoretical physics, light refraction, magnets, and black holes. The event provided educational activities and opportunities to engage with Perimeter’s award-winning outreach team, world-class researchers, and the Let’s Talk Science team, one of Canada’s leading educational outreach non-profits.
“For anybody from the public that would like to get a bit of a glimpse inside the building and what goes on here, this is not a public space generally,” said Healy.
“So, it’s a good opportunity to get inside, talk to some physicists, talk to some people that work around here, and figure out what goes on.”
An event volunteer said she attended because she wanted to meet people enthusiastic about science. “A scientifically literate electorate is vitally important to our future success as a country,” she said.
Lazaridis initially invested $100 million—about a third of his wealth at the time—to launch what has become one of the world’s leading centres for theoretical physics. Lazaridis believed that breakthroughs in theoretical physics could fuel multiple generations of wealth creation and advance humanity from the development of silicon chips and transistors to Canada’s potential leadership in quantum technologies.
“It was higher than any investment in Canadian history and science by a factor,” Mark Healy, Perimeter Institute’s director of communications and public engagement, said. “His vision was to have an independent theoretical physics institute sitting in Canada at the heart of what he thought would become Quantum Valley.”
At five p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, the institute hosted a one-act play called Quantum of Hope, a debut performance by Perimeter alumni written during the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science.
After the institute’s events, attendees joined the Lumen Festival, an annual, free, all-ages festival open to the public and run by the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Creative Industries team, Create Waterloo. The event explores the interplay between light, art and technology in installations located throughout uptown Waterloo. It hosts more than 30 visual, interactive, new media and performance-based installations.
Healy also said there were other events to look forward to, including public lectures and film screenings. These film screenings took place at the Princess Cinema on Monday and Saturday night.
“The screenings are open to the public, providing an accessible way to engage with physics and quantum mechanics,” Sophia Irwin, the cinema’s programming coordinator, said.
“Princess Cinemas is honoured to provide a space where we can connect with groups we may not otherwise engage with.”
The week concluded with a private gala and the inaugural Circle Awards, recognising outstanding achievements by former Perimeter postdocs and graduate students. Fifteen alumni gave talks.
“This is a place that represents hope—a beacon in a somewhat tumultuous world,” Healy said.
As a major source of research fueling Canada’s “Quantum Valley,” Perimeter Institute hosted many of those who contributed to its success, including esteemed alumni, visionary industry leaders, key government representatives, and community members at its campus in Waterloo.
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