Ottawa – At this weeks Ottawa Animation Festival the Ontario Technology Corridor, a association representing nearly 256,000 people employed at 5,900 companies in five major urban Ontario regions stated that the province of Ontario is at the forefront of the digital entertainment revolution.

“Evidence of the Ontario Technology Corridor’s digital entertainment sector leadership includes stellar job creation statistics, unique education infrastructure initiatives, targeted tax incentives, business wins with incoming companies such as international interactive gaming giant Ubisoft, and the continued growth of brilliant home-grown companies including Digital Extremes, Fuel Industries, Magmic Games, Inc., March Entertainment and Silicon Knights,” says Gerald Pisarzowski, Vice-President Business Development with the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA), an Ontario Technology Corridor partner.

Pisarzowski is joined this week at the Ottawa Animation Festival, by Blair Patacairk, Senior Consultant, Investment, with OCRI. Ottawa Region’s OCRI is another of the Ontario Technology Corridor’s five regional partners that also include Canada’s Technology Triangle, the London Economic Development Corporation and the Niagara Economic Development Corporation.

Quick facts on the Ontario Technology Corridor’s digital entertainment revolution:

· 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.

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

· A sustained collaborative marketing effort by the Ontario Government and the GTMA through the Ontario Technology Corridor resulted in France-based Ubisoft’s decision to establish a Toronto studio that is expected to create 800 jobs over the next decade, with operations expected to launch by the end of 2009. The Province of Ontario will contribute $263 million to help finance the investment, which is expected to total nearly $800 million.

· In 2008 Ontario announced 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. This is in addition to well established college and university programs across the province that attract employers including Pixar Animation Studios, Electronic Arts Inc., The Walt Disney Co. and Microsoft Corp.

· 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:

o Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit – refunds 20 per cent of production costs;

o Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit – 20 per cent of labour costs;

o OMDC Interactive Digital Media Fund – up to $150,000 in project production funding.
· The Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade offers incentives to grow business with its Next Generation of Jobs fund – 15 per cent of total project investment.