CANADA FOCUS | BETA
Beenox recently released Spiderman: Edge of Time, after last year’s successful Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions
STATES OF PLAY: QUEBEC
Montreal is the most influential industry hub in Canada, along with its close neighbour Quebec City. The region has flourished to house some of the biggest developers, publishers and services in the world such as two Ubisoft studios, BioWare, THQ and Enzyme Testing Labs. The region has become a huge global
centre for industry education, with thousands of graduates coming out of local universities and institutions with a plethora of jobs available once they leave education. Babel Media CEO Richard Leinfellner
says that, as of this month, it is offering three courses in partnership with a program called "Intégration Jeunesse Emploi" (Youth Work Integration) for students wishing to join the industry. “People realise that working with us is a
great way to get into the games business and be noticed, many current games Execs started as testers.” The National Institute of Digital
Entertainment, based in Quebec City, was formed by a group of developers and universities such as Beenox, Ubisoft and Frima Studio. Beenox’s HR director Alexandra Beaulieu
says of the institute: “This school gives, among other things, an opportunity for some young graduates to live a unique video game development experience and to benefit from mentors presently working in the video game industry.” With such a big focus on education in
the area, Quebec will clearly never be short on young talent and new ideas as the industry progress on to new frontiers.
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26 per cent. Me’shel Gulliver Belanger, spokesperson for international trade Canada points out this is well below most other G-7 countries, and more than 13 per cent lower than their neighbours the US. Each province manages its own tax
programs adapted to its own needs, which in the games industry are notoriously generous. It all started in 1997 with Quebec offering tax credit to help French developer Ubisoft to set up. Since then the studio has released hit franchises such as Assassins Creed and Prince of Persia, whilst expanding into other cities such as Vancouver and Toronto. This has encouraged other regions to implement similar initiatives after demand from developers and publishers who wanted to set up outside of Quebec but stay in Canada. With British Columbia setting up their digital media tax credit last year, Nova Scotia increasing their own tax breaks in 2008 and Ontario reacting in a similar fashion in 2009, the Canadian industry looks set to continue spreading throughout the country. In British Columbia, the most used tax
breaks according to Digibc President Howard Donaldson are R&D credit, digital media tax credit that can be used to claim back 17.5 per cent on eligible salary and wages incurred, and can be combined with R&D, and 30 per cent refunds on investments. “These tax breaks have been instrumental
in raising capital, hiring staff and funding development. All development studios use these tax breaks. This helps keep development costs manageable and competitive with many other jurisdictions,” he says. Many studios agree that tax breaks are a
key part of their success. Ubisoft Vancouver’s Bertrand Helias says: “The new BC Interactive
Digital Media tax credit has the potential to benefit our industry on many levels. It offers us that extra financial flexibility to acquire talents and infrastructure that will enable us to grow and return to the levels of success we celebrated a few years ago.” He cautions however that it is too early to
analyse its effects, but that there is every reason to be confident in its success of raising the prominence of the Vancouver game industry. Tax breaks have also boosted how the Canadian industry works with educators.
All development studios use these tax
breaks. This helps keep development costs manageable and
competitive. Howard Donaldson, Digibc
Many studios have formed partnerships with local universities and courses with the extra money they have at their disposal. They are providing tools, speakers and internships to students there, with more than enough jobs available for graduates to get into work. The Great Northern Way Campus in
Vancouver, set up in 2007 as a product of local academic institutions, has received significant funding from government and publishers. Director Dennis Chenard claims that even if tax breaks were taken away that the industry would remain strong.
NOVEMBER 2011 | 29
Steve Couture, Frima (top), Jason Doucette, Xona (middle), Jayson Hilchie, NSBI (above)
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