Canada’s tax breaks at an evolutionary dead-end?

Speaking to Develop as part of our ongoing Canada Special, the MD of Ubisoft’s Vancouver studio has suggested that increasingly the country’s western region is loosing out as rival jurisdictions compete to entice developers to establish a presence.

His comments echo sentiments expressed by Ontario’s minister for economic trade Sandra Pupatello, who recently told Develop she feels ‘alternatives’ to tax breaks must be considered as the increasingly generous incentives become unworkable.

"Being part of what is known as the west coast creative corridor, Vancouver enjoyed double-digit growth in this industry earlier in the decade, well above the global rate of growth," recounted Ubisoft Vancouver’s Bertrand Helias. "Only now, as other jurisdictions have added growth incentives to attract business, creating a competitive-disadvantage in BC, have we seen the growth here stop and start to climb significantly in eastern Canada."

While Helias also has plenty of positive insights on Canada’s infamously prolific games industry in the studio profile, his opinions correlate with Pupatello’s observation that, with regard to tax-breaks, "at some point [Canadian] government’s are going to say ‘OK. Stop now.’"

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