Economy

A deep look into Canada’s love for gaming and its economic impact

Published

4 years ago

August 19, 2020

The beautiful land of Canada has a lot to uncover. This country has been in the forefront for the longest time, for the sheer love it shares for gaming. Anything from Candy Crush to Mario Kart is played by people here. The Canadian Gaming Association claims that a gigantic $15 billion of Canada’s economy comes out of the gaming industry. This insane love for gaming requires better understanding and analysis. In this article, we will look into the history of gaming in Canada and discuss its economic impact.

Traditional games in Canadian Gaming Landscape

The Canadian gaming market has always been charged with entrepreneurial spirit. The popular brands like Peanut Butter, Wonderbra to even IMAX cinema had seen their light of day in Canada. Not just that, it was a Canadian couple who had built up games like Trivial Pursuit and Yahtzee while they stayed in a yacht.

Shift to online gaming:

Online gaming has opened a new avenue in the life of many. Board games cannot be played anywhere, right? Online gaming encashed that dearth in our life. Online gaming has paved the way for the growth of the online casino industry as well. With the digitized form of casino available, more people are getting involved in it, which in turn results in an economic boom.

What is the reason for their inclination?

What we should understand is that gaming happens to be a tiny microcosm of the life we are living. Most of our development depends on this gaming culture, however, with greater analysis it was understood that Canadians relate to analog gaming at a visceral level. Most of them want to play such games in order to have some quality time with their family and friends, whilst others think that playing such games would expand their idea about the society and help them imbibe some social skills.

Any occasion ranging from Thanksgiving to Christmas, these games give Canadians a semblance of togetherness which the current kind of life lacks. The highest amount of endorphins release while playing these games, and hence feelings of satisfaction, enthusiasm, and friendliness trump all other feelings, producing a great vibe and a healthy atmosphere.

It is a heaven for video game designers:

Imagine being able to conglomerate your passion into the work that you do and getting the support of the government for that! It is the most fulfilling feeling, right?

Turns out Canadian video game designers feel this feeling day in and day out. A whopping 20,000 employees work in these video game industries which have laid their strong roots in the land of Canada. Montreal, Quebec is well known for being home to independent and as well as gaming behemoths. Ubisoft, which is best known for the Assassin Creed Series, has its headquarters in Montreal.

There were over 170 offices being built up across Quebec in 2017 alone. British Columbia has grown up to be a home for many production studios like EA Vancouver. These recent developments have put Canada in the global map of the growing video industry and help thousands of video game designers to show their skills while being paid well.

The growing industry:

Canada is a home of big gaming giants to gaming startups. These companies demonstrate how technologies and innovation are always in demand in this country. The evolution of the gaming industry bases its progress over a few key factors: a shift in public perception, consumer wants for new productions, and new technologies that put Canada in the picture of the globalized market for video games.

A huge chunk of governmental revenue comes from this gaming industry. Not just that, the growing demand has also created new gaming opportunities, new offices and entrepreneurs, and thousands of job vacancies. The impact of video gaming in this country is massive and everyone has a little to take from this grand piece of pie.

Targeted career-driven education:

The capitalist industry works strangely yet beautifully. Technologically advanced games require well-educated gaming designers, right? For that reason, many gaming companies have partnered with colleges to incorporate top tier courses for video game designs. Montreal, Ontario, Quebec has seen this activity in abundance. Everything from technological expertise to audio design is being taught under these courses.

Gaming is an emerging industry, fueled with enthusiasm and passion, and Canada has joined the bandwagon and how! Don’t you think it is time for you too?

Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

2 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

2 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales fell 1.3% to $69.4B in August

Published

3 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.

The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.

The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.

Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.

Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.

Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

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