Robotics will profoundly improve Canadian real estate sectors and property types, provided that investors are willing to invest their capital in the technologies, says a leading automation expert.

But first, entrepreneurs and investors must be aware of each other to get the capital flow going, Ryan Gariepy, co-founder and chair of the Canadian Robotics Council, indicated in an interview with Connect.

Earlier this year, the council launched a new capital committee designed to help robotics developers access more capital for their projects.

“There’s a lot of money needed for robotics,” said Gariepy. “It’s not just a software product where you can create an app, put it on the app store and that’s that. You need capital in various forms.

“So, we wanted to make sure that people knew where they could go, that they knew that there were Canadian companies willing to put money into this space and that they could learn from them, and that you can build these things in Canada.”

He noted that the council’s first members represent $12 billion to $14 billion that they already invest in robotics firms.

“One of the things that we’re really trying to make sure of is, as these companies succeed, that they have capital to help them continue to scale,” he said. “Ideally that capital is Canadian.

“We’re seeing this more and more where [robotics firms] are finding places [for their technologies] to work, to help in construction, in agriculture, in manufacturing. There’s so many of these companies which are starting to establish themselves, and we want to make sure that the sources of capital are here.

“In some cases, it’s [about] introducing them to the sources of capital which already exist. And they just weren’t necessarily in the right rooms, so to speak, for it.

“Where I am in Waterloo, [Ont.], it’s very well-known by venture capitalists around the world. But, for example, I grew up in Barrie, Ontario. Venture capitalists don’t really go to Barrie, and it’s not that far away. But they just don’t go there. Some of [the capital committee’s effort] is just about making some of these connections to the funds which already exist. They just might not have access to the right people.”

The committee also aims to show investors and developers that robotics can be manufactured affordably in Canada rather than in countries like China, the U.S., and Germany where robotics are consider more of a “thing” than they are in this country. Another goal is to show that investors interested in robotics can invest in other areas beyond “the stereotypical real estate investments,” such as manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, transport, agriculture, defence and aerospace.

“A lot of this is just right on the edge where robotics can take it to this next level of productivity,” he said. “So, all of these areas that our economy already depends on, and that we already have these very strong companies in, whether they’re small companies or large companies, these are areas where robotics has the potential to really improve them.”

When it comes to real estate, robotics could be used in everything from multi-residential development projects to infrastructure to data centres, Gariepy believes. He suggested that robotics could have been used to build Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown light-rapid transit line that opened earlier this year after 15 years of delays and what The Toronto Star described as “seemingly never-ending construction.”

“Why aren’t we working four shifts” on infrastructure projects? “Well, because we want people to be comfortable. But if your robots are capable of working four shifts, then we can get all of this. The infrastructure work can be done faster, and the disruption on everyone around that infrastructure can be reduced as well.”

When it comes to assisting with data-centre development, robotics could be used to service and build facilities, particularly in locations where developers have access to cheap water, land, and power sources but lack access to sufficient labour supply, he said.

In Gariepy’s view, Canada has a much better chance of becoming a world leader in robotics than data-centre development.

He anticipates that more robotics will be used in distribution centres, while increased use of robotics will spur robotics manufacturing facilities.

Canada needs to catch up to other countries on robotics investment, but this country can because it’s “still very early in the game.”

Canadian robotics investment is being held back by the perception that robotics are a “job killer,” but increased use of robotics “absolutely” will create more jobs.

“If we double our output as a country because of the use of robotics, there are enough buyers for our output around the world,” he said. “If we were a country that was a billion people in the country and we doubled our output, well, we might have to be concerned about: Are there enough buyers?

“But I think we’ve seen recently that there are plenty of people who would like to buy our aluminum, our trees, our cars. And you can imagine how competitive we would be if we were twice as productive for every single person. Everyone’s job would be a lot safer, for example.”

Gariepy helped launch the robotics council after founding two robotics companies, ClearPath Robotics and OTTO Motors, and sold them to Rockwell Automation in 2023. He now serves as Rockwell’s vice-president of robotics.

With real estate investments no longer being the sure thing that they once were, he hopes to see property and robotics developers integrate for such purposes as developing more manufactured homes and other projects.

But right now, capital is lacking for such integrations, he indicated.

Pictured: Robotics being used to build a modular-housing component at the Promise Robotics, prefabricated-homes manufacturing facility in Calgary.

Photo: Promise Robotics