I’d guess because Canadians often rely on American tech infrastructure by default, and current events are shining a light on the vulnerability inherent in that arrangement. It’s a line that speaks to a potential Canadian user base who doesn’t make a distinction among what’s tangled up in their web use.

Building a "Canadian equivalent" of something else is a great way to get money from the Canadian government right now.

In addition to direct subsidies/grants, the government has a buy Canadian mandate.

It seems like it is funded by creator for now. It seems like they intend to fund it via professional acesa to its infrastructure.

Here is the bit that talks about it

https://xonaly.com/ethical-private-search-engine/

> How is Xonaly sustained? > Xonaly remains free and private for users by offering professional access to its infrastructure through the Xonaly API. This allows developers and organizations to build applications on top of a truly independent search engine, while supporting the long-term growth of the project.

This is the founder: https://xonaly.com/about-the-founder/

I guess he’s psyched about being Canadian? Anyway, nothing about funding. The privacy-first stance is certainly welcome.

> Built in Canada

It’s a trend now to decouple from US, so much hype about it but I don’t think it will materialize in reality.