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Digital Media Industry, Recognized As a MEDIA SECTOR World Leader in Video-Game Development, Animation and Visual Effects

Digital Media Industry, Recognized As a MEDIA SECTOR World Leader in Video-Game Development, Animation and Visual Effects

PROFIT PERFORMANCE STABILITY PROFIT PERFORMANCE INNOVATION DIVERSITY DIVERSITYINV STABILIEST TIYN PROFIT PERFORMANCE INNOVATION PROFIT DIVERSITY STABILITY STABILITY DIVECANADA’SRSI COMPETITIVETY INN ADVANTAGESOVATION PROFIT DIVERSITY STABILITY PROFIT PERFORMANCE INNOVATION PROFDIGITALIT DIVE MEDIA:RSITY STABILITY PERFORMANCE INNOVideoVATION Games, DIVE RSITY PROFIT PERFORMANCEAnimation STABILITY and VFX PROFIT PERFORMANCE STABITLITY PROFIT DIVERSITY STABILITY DIVERSITY INNOVATION PROFIT PERFORMANCE STABITLITY PROFIT DIVERSITY CANADA’S DIGITAL CANADA IS HOME TO A THRIVING digital media industry, recognized as a MEDIA SECTOR world leader in video-game development, animation and . DIGITAL The breadth of Canada’s GAMES expertise in the digital media sector also According to the Canada Digital Media Fund, Canada’s digital-games industry is encompasses areas the third-largest in the world, both in terms such as web design, of the size and quality of its talent pool and of its technical resources. It continues to social networking, grow, with new technologies and platforms education, healthcare offering new development opportunities and advertising. for foreign investors. The consulting firm console games on the market, based on Nordicity has measured that the industry in VGChartz sales. Blockbuster franchises According to the Canada Canada comprises 472 firms and employs from Canada include Dragon Age (EA/ Media Fund, digital media is a over 20,000 individuals (up 24 percent BioWare), FIFA Soccer (EA Sports), Assassin’s from 2013). Large firms (comprising over Creed and Far Cry (). Many popular $22 billion industry in Canada 100 workers) account for the vast majority or critically acclaimed mobile games are that supports more than (89 percent) of industry employment, which is developed in Canada as well, including IGN’s 120,000 creative jobs, making mostly concentrated in technical and creative 2015 Mobile Game of the Year, GO positions. The Canadian video-game industry (Square ), as well as Marvel’s Contest Canada one of the foremost directly contributed $1.6 billion to Canada’s of Champions (Kabam), : investment destinations for GDP in 2015. Canadian studios are responsible The Game (Ludia Inc.), Dungeon Hunter 5 for developing some of the best-selling (Gameloft), and Alto’s Adventure (Snowman). global digital media companies.

ANIMATION AND DIGITAL EFFECTS

Animation and digital effects drive the success of the film industry globally. The 20 top-grossing films of all time featured high-end visual effects or computer- generated animation, and today visual effects often represent over 30 percent of a film’s production budget. Canada’s animation and digital-effects industry is an important part of the country’s digital economy and is world- renowned for its innovation and creativity. Canadian-based companies have created animation and effects for many box-office hits and award-nominated feature films such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Iron Man 3, The Martian, and Hotel Transylvania 2. Canadian studios are also heavily involved in the production of commercial advertising and many popular television series such as , The Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time, as well as animated kids’ shows that include Thomas and Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and My Little Pony, among others. DIGITAL MEDIA CANADA’S WORLD-CLASS digital media clusters are located in Montréal, Québec CLUSTERS City, and Vancouver,

GREENLAND as well as in other vibrant

ALASKA centres throughout the country, (USA) with a comprehensive range YUKON of development studios and NORTHWEST NUNAVUT TERRITORIES NEWFOUNDLAND support services such as & LABRADOR middleware, quality assurance BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA and testing, motion capture, MANITOBA Edmonton SASKATCHEWAN audio services, acting Saskatoon Vancouver PRINCE EDWARD and voice-over, animation ONTARIO ISLAND Calgary Québec City NOVA SCOTIA and interactive design. Winnipeg Ottawa Halifax

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Montréal NEW BRUNSWICK Toronto Waterloo Niagara

London BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ONTARIO, QUEBEC AND OTHER WESTERN PROVINCES ATLANTIC CANADA

» Leading studios include: Animal Logic, BioWare (EA)*, » Leading studios include: Arc Productions, Beenox ( *, 3.0, Disney Interactive, Blizzard), Behaviour Interactive, , Double Negative, (EA)*, GameHouse, Big Viking Games, Studios, Cloudcade, Digital Dimension, Hothead Games, , Kabam, Kixeye, Microsoft Digital Extremes, , , Gameloft, Gearbox Game Studios, Method Studios, *, Software, Ludia, Magmic, , , Mokko Studio, Bandai Namco Games, Next Games, Relic Mr. X Inc., Other Ocean Interactive, Rockstar Games (Take Two Entertainment (), Prime Focus World, Rainmaker Interactive), Rodeo FX, Spin VFX*, , Stargate Entertainment, Satellite Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Studios*, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Zynga Imageworks, United Front Games, Zoic Studios * Studio has a presence in both Western and Eastern Canada. RECENT INVESTMENTS

Cinesite Studios announced the opening In 2015, Animal Logic opened a of a new 54,000 square-foot animation 45,000 square-foot studio in Vancouver, In 2015, opened studio in Montréal, Quebec, in 2016. British Columbia. The studio is working a studio in Montréal to expand its The company plans to create nine on The LEGO Movie Sequel, one of capabilities for console, PC and animated movies in the coming years, three LEGO animated features produced mobile gaming development. The three of which are already underway. out of Vancouver with Warner Bros. Montréal studio launched with The Montréal studio is expected to Pictures. Once fully staffed, the studio is a team of 40 developers. employ up to 500 people by 2020. expected to house some 300 employees.

GearBox Software opened its first international studio in Québec City, Quebec in 2015. The studio will be responsible for developing AAA titles for consoles and PCs, and is expected to grow to 100 employees within three years. CANADA’S ADVANTAGES

TOP TALENT AND LEADING ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS COST Canada has a world-class higher-education COMPETITIVE system with many internationally recognized training schools in digital media design, Canada offers the lowest business costs in animation, video-game development and the G7 for digital entertainment. According visual effects. Each year, thousands of to KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives 2016, talented graduates join the experienced studios located in Canada greatly benefit workforce already active in Canada’s digital from the most-competitive tax environment media industry. Montréal’s École des arts among G7 countries. Canada’s cost advantage numériques, de l’animation et du design stems in part from the financial incentives (Centre NAD), Toronto’s Ontario College of Art available to qualifying digital media firms. & Design University (OCAD U) and Sheridan For example, the Scientific Research and College, and Vancouver’s Centre for Digital Experimental Development (SR&ED) Media and Emily Carr University of Art and Program provides income-tax credits Design are among the many schools across and refunds for expenditures on eligible the country that offer state-of-the-art training R&D activity in Canada on wages, materials, and research programs in digital media. some overhead and SR&ED contracts.

Various provinces1 across the country also offer attractive financial incentives specific to the digital media industry:

BRITISH COLUMBIA ONTARIO NOVA SCOTIA » Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit: » Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit: up » Computer-assisted Labour Incentives: 17.5 percent of qualifying labour costs to 40 percent of eligible labour costs the lesser of 50 percent of eligible labour and up to $100,000 for marketing costs (with possibility of 10% regional » Digital Animation or Visual and distribution expenditures credit) or 25 percent of total expenditures Effects Tax Credit: 16 percent (with possibility of 5% regional credit) of qualifying labour costs » Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit: 18 percent of total labour costs » Animation Incentive: 17.5 percent bonus tax-credit for eligible labour MANITOBA expenditures, up to $150,000 » Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit: QUEBEC 40 percent of eligible labour costs for » Production of Multimedia Titles Tax Credit: prototyping and product development, up to 30 percent of qualifying labour PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND as well as up to $100,000 for marketing costs, with an additional 7.5 percent tax » Innovation and Development Labour and distribution expenses, up to a credit for French language versions Rebate: 25 percent of eligible labour costs maximum of $500,000 per project » Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit: up to 16 percent of qualifying NEWFOUNDLAND labour costs for production services AND LABRADOR » Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit: 40% of eligible labour 1. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, The big table: Digital media and animation incentives in Canada, 2015 DIGITALDIGITAL INNOVATIONINNOVATION ININ CANADACANADA

A PIONEER IN DIGITAL MEDIA INNOVATION

With a thriving digital media industry, Canada has greatly contributed to the evolution of video games, animation and “For the past 15 years we have visual effects. Canadian studios have had a truly collaborative and been actively producing commercially “As part of our strategy, we highly successful relationship successful video-game titles since the now look ahead to another key with our friends at Warner early 1980s and provided visual effects and exciting step which is our and/or animation for many Academy Bros., and we are excited to be commitment towards our all-new Award-nominated films. Canada’s taking our collaboration to the rich tradition of developing cutting- Gearbox Studio Quebec, where next level on the production of a edge animation dates back several we strive to team up with some terrific slate of films in Vancouver, decades, to the National Film Board incredible talent in the world and to the National Research Council’s Canada, where the digital media of video game development pioneering use of key frame-animation ecosystem is robust and strongly techniques during the late 1960s. Today, outside of Texas to help us build supported and where the sector producers of Hollywood feature films fun and exciting video games is mature and very active.” and many of the world’s top studios within our tent-pole brands.” regularly rely on Canadian-developed — Zareh Nalbandian, CEO and multimedia technologies such as Co-Founder, Animal Logic Studios, — Randy Pitchford, President Autodesk’s Maya, Side Effects Software’s Sydney, Australia; and Los Angeles, of Gearbox Software, Frisco, Houdini and Toon Boom’s Harmony. California, United States Texas, United States AN ENABLING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

WORLD-CLASS CLUSTERS OF INNOVATION, WITH GOVERNMENT AS PARTNER Canada has strong geographic and sectoral clusters in digital media, as A WELCOMING BUSINESS well as R&D-intensive sectors with the ENVIRONMENT lowest business costs in the G7. Canada is the second best place Source: KPMG for business in the G20.

Source: Forbes FINANCIAL STABILITY Canada’s banking system, ranked 3rd by A HIGHLY EDUCATED AND the World Economic Forum (WEF), remains TALENTED WORKFORCE one of the soundest in the world following Canada has the most educated talent pool in eight consecutive first place standings. the OECD with more than half of its population aged 25-64 having a tertiary level education. Source: World Economic Forum

Source: OECD A GREAT PLACE TO INVEST, WORK AND LIVE INVEST IN LOW BUSINESS Canada ranked first among 60 countries for TAX RATES quality of life. Canada is ranked first in the G7 Canada is the most tax competitive and G20 for overall prosperity of citizens. Global Affairs Canada country in the G7. 111 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Sources: U.S. News and the Ontario, K1N 1J1, CANADA Source: KPMG Legatum Prosperity Index Catalogue number: FR5-38/8-2016E-PDF ISBN 978-0-660-05221-2

Spring 2017

Unless otherwise noted, all values in this publication are in Canadian dollars. The content is based on the latest available information at time of publication. Follow us on Twitter!

@invest_canada Images: Dragon Age: Inquisition – © 2014 Electronic Arts Inc.; – © 2015 Square Enix Montréal; : Mankind Divided – © 2016 Eidos-Montréal; Hotel Transylvania 2 – © 2015 Columbia Pictures. All Rights Reserved. investincanada.com

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