Vision

To create the world’s foremost centre for research, graduate
training, and educational outreach in theoretical physics, uniting
public and private partners, and the world’s best scientific minds,
in a shared enterprise to achieve breakthroughs that will
transform our future.

Message from the Board Chair | Message from the Institute Director

Perimeter Remembers Raymond Laflamme, 1960 – 2025

Perimeter Institute (PI) is an independent research institute created to be a leading centre for research, training, and outreach in theoretical physics. Perimeter’s paramount strategic objective is research excellence. Throughout the 2024/25 reporting year, Perimeter continued to undertake a multifaceted and strategic approach to advancing a broad research portfolio, attracting exceptional talent, accelerating research exchange, and partnering to raise national research capacity and leverage federal investments.

Perimeter feeds regional and national ecosystems in Canada through collaboration and partnership with 19 Canadian and 11 International partner universities and organizations. Perimeter remains a foundational partner in the quantum ecosystem in the Waterloo region that spans basic research through commercialization, catalyzing quantum technologies. Perimeter also plays a role in national ecosystems, particularly in fundamental research and quantum technologies.

Perimeter’s core activities include training the next generation of researchers and scientists. PI trained over 260 researchers in this reporting year, totalling 1,300 to date across the Master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral levels; many now contribute to Canada’s research and tech ecosystems. Perimeter continued to train a new generation with advanced, widely applicable skills. These trainees’ rare skills give Canada a critical edge in the race to build quantum industries and tackle key societal challenges.

Research at Perimeter is led by a complement of 27 full-time research faculty, 20 associate faculty cross-appointed with partner universities, and 5 outreach and teaching faculty. Researchers at Perimeter continue to advance the field of theoretical physics in a collaborative environment that prioritizes a national and international exchange of ideas through visitor exchange programs and conferences. Throughout their career at PI, researchers explore a multitude of research topics and lines of inquiry related to fundamental questions with the ultimate goal of producing high-impact, open-access publications to disseminate research findings.

Through Perimeter’s outreach programs, PI reaches Canadian secondary teachers with training and high-quality classroom resources, building skills and inspiring young people toward STEM careers. PI delivered over 100 teacher workshops to 2,300 attendees throughout the 2024/25 fiscal year, bringing the total number of teacher workshop attendees to almost 55,000 since the program's inception. These activities build on PI’s many partnerships across Canada, with emphasis on reaching remote, underserved, and Indigenous communities. High-impact public engagement programs delivered by Perimeter (e.g. public events, school visits, podcasts) help to increase scientific literacy and trust in science.

Perimeter Institute’s long-term goals are to create and sustain the world’s leading centre for foundational theoretical physics research, to make discoveries that will change the world, to train the next generation of scientific innovators, and to provide trusted science outreach to students, teachers, and the public. Perimeter Institute is a Canadian hub for top-calibre physics research, and through continued leadership in physics research training and outreach, PI will help build Canada’s scientific future.

Perimeter has recently changed its fiscal year-end date from July 31st to March 31st to align with the federal and provincial government year-end. The data and financial statements presented in the 2024/25 Annual Report correlate with the eight-month period from August 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

The 2024/25 fiscal year was incredibly productive for Perimeter Institute, given the 8-month reporting period, and the Institute is well on track to meet outlined goals. Perimeter met and surpassed most goals outlined across all objectives including outstanding achievements with 450 projects and publications, 21 student learning events, 106 teacher training workshops, and 109 multi-media communications. Some 12-month annual targets were not reached during the truncated fiscal year, such as papers reaching 500+ citations, but these KPI’s are on track to be met in future 12-month reporting periods. Further details and metrics related to KPIs are provided throughout this report.