As Ubisoft readies its new Toronto studio for a grand opening in the first quarter of 2010, the Province of Ontario wants Europe to know that the Ontario Technology Corridor is unique in the world for its depth of talent and serious government commitment to the digital entertainment industry. France-based Ubisoft’s Toronto studio is expected to create 800 jobs over the next decade. The Province of Ontario will contribute CDN$263 million to help finance the investment, which is expected to total nearly $800 million.

The Ontario Technology Corridor employs nearly 272,000 people among 6,700 companies in five urban regions, including the Greater Toronto area, Ottawa region, Waterloo region, city of London and the Niagara region. Representatives have come to Game Connection Europe to promote Ontario’s abundant digital creative talent, targeted business incentives, low business taxes, European-style universal healthcare, cultural diversity, plus lower-cost, more stable housing markets than in many U.S. cities.

Gerald Pisarzowski, Vice-President Business Development with the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA) is one of the Ontario Technology Corridor executives attending Game Connection Europe: "The Province of Ontario is extraordinarily focused on digital entertainment, from animation to gaming to special effects software to advertainment in all its varying forms," he stated.

"Over the past decade, Ontario’s entertainment and creative cluster created more than 80,000 new jobs — an increase of 40 per cent compared to 17 per cent in the overall Ontario economy. The Ontario government, from the Premier to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), sees the money and wants companies around the world to understand the Ontario Technology Corridor’s aggressive, focused approach to building this important industry."

Evidence of Ontario’s focus on digital entertainment includes:

• A $10 million investment to help the University of Waterloo create a new campus and research and innovation centre focused on global business and digital media, and a $9 million investment at the Ontario College of Art & Design to help create new digital media research and training programs.

• A 24 per cent contribution to a $107 million Digital Media & Mobile Accelerator located in Waterloo Region, with additional funding coming from private sector partners and other levels of government. Participating postsecondary institutions include the University of Waterloo and the Stratford Institute, Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Toronto’s Ontario College of Art and Design.

• Well-established college and university programs across the Ontario Technology Corridor that attract employers including Electronic Arts Inc., Microsoft Corp., Pixar Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Co., and Ubisoft.

• A creative sector that is estimated to contribute at least $7 billion from direct cultural industry contributions; when a broader range of culture contributions is included, that figure grows to $12.2 billion.

• The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), an agency of the Ministry of Culture, is the central catalyst for the province’s cultural media cluster and offers the following tax incentives:

• Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit — 40 per cent of eligible Ontario labour expenditures and eligible marketing and distribution expenses to create eligible interactive digital media products in Ontario by qualifying corporations (including foreign- owned Ontario corporations)

• Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit — 20 per cent of labour costs with respect to eligible computer animation and special effects activities by qualifying corporations (including foreign-owned Ontario corporations)
   [December 10, 2009]
  
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