At the Top of Our Digital Media Game

The 21st century is a multimedia world— and Canada offers expertise across the entire digital media spectrum: animation and special effects, visual effects and post-production, web marketing and business applications, education and training, video and computer games, tools, platforms and hardware.

Canada is home to thriving digital media clusters with deep pools of talent for designing games and other digital media products.  Global leaders feel right at home with Canada’s solid industry credentials, creative talent base, world recognized university-based gaming studies and quality of life backdrop for much-in-demand skilled workers upon which the industry thrives.  Also located at the cross roads of Asia, Europe and North America, Canada is an unbeatable choice for home-grown gamers and multinationals alike. 

Did You Know?

• With some 250 companies posting over $2.2 billion in revenues in 2008, Canada is a top player in entertainment software. 


• Some 20% of the top-selling games in North America hail from Canadian studios. 


• Recently, Canada surpassed Britain to become the 3rd largest home of game developers, after Japan and the U.S.


• Contemporary film production would be impossible without Canadian advances in animation and special effects. For years, most Academy Award nominees for special effects were produced with Canadian-developed technology.


• In the use of game-like technology for training and simulation, Canada is a serious competitor.  Canadian companies like CAE and Presagis build simulators for military and commercial airlines, space agencies and other hi-tech clients.


• Leading console games developed in Canada include: Silicon Knights’ Too Human and Radical Entertainment’s  Crash of the Titans.


• Canada is home to numerous mobile game developers. Canadian companies like Marblemedia, A2M and Other Ocean Interactive are making a name for themselves globally. 


• Canadian companies are also leaders in the development of innovative animation tools, digital models and artificial intelligence. Game developers increasingly turn to Canada for graphics software developed by Autodesk’s Alias and Softimage to make their games more lifelike. Companies such as Side Effects and Rainmaker are also producing 3D animation and visual effects customized and integrated into games.


• Canada’s professional schools offer more than 100 new-media programs, including: the Art Institute of Vancouver’s Centre for Digital Imaging and Sound; the Centre for Digital Media; Ontario’s Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning ; and the National Animation and Design Centre of Montréal.

Look Who Chooses Canada

• In 2009, California-based Activision Blizzard further expanded its Beenox facility, adding several hundred jobs and a training facility.


• In 2009, California’s Digital Domain announced it would build a new 20,000-square-foot visual effects studio in Vancouver to expand the company’s capacity to take on high-end feature film projects.


• In 2009, France’s Ubisoft announced plans to open an 800-person studio in Toronto, Ontario.  For more than 12 years, the company has also maintained production facilities in Montréal.