Investment

Alberta losing out on investment in the video game industry, says tech sector – Calgary Herald

Published

3 years ago

November 9, 2021

Harry Miller

Author of the article:

Bill Kaufmann

Publishing date:

Nov 09, 2021 • 30 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation

Despite falling squarely within the realm of discretionary spending. video games and the companies that make them are having a banner year. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images files

Alberta has proven a poor player in grabbing investment in a booming video game sector, say some of those in the province’s tech industry.

They point to a report issued Tuesday by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) showing Alberta — with 11 percent of the country’s population — has only four per cent of the jobs in a video game sector that’s boomed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as isolated people sought diversion.

At the same time, 90 per cent of the field’s employment is spread between B.C., Ontario and Quebec, which host 80 per cent of video game companies serving an industry whose revenues have grown 23 per cent since 2019, says Scott Nye, president of Digital Alberta.

But he said it doesn’t have to be that way with an industry that now contributes $5.5 billion to the Canadian economy.

“The fact of the matter is that Alberta is losing to the rest of Canada, but the province is in a prime position to seize the opportunity of the booming video game sector,” said Scott Nye, President of Digital Alberta.

“As part of the broader economic recovery and strategy to keep jobs in Alberta, we are encouraging the government to explore proven competitive incentives that are found in other thriving jurisdictions.”

While 88 software companies are located in Alberta, the province’s is being vastly outpaced by other provinces in attracting startups and studios, said Nye.

Alberta can turn that around by employing some of the government policies and incentives used by those other jurisdictions, he said.

“There is no reason we can’t be doing the same here in Alberta. It’s time we build upon the strong foundation we have of video game companies in the province,” said Nye.

If primed, the interactive digital media sector would help reduce the nearly 30 per cent vacancy rate in downtown Calgary’s office space, he said.

On Monday, Premier Jason Kenney trumpeted what he called his government’s tech industry investment policy for helping convince Amazon Web Services to locate its second Canadian regional hub in Calgary, a commitment ultimately worth $4.3 billion.

Following that announcement came word Tuesday that California-based business accelerator Plug and Play LLC is setting up shop in Calgary.

But the NDP opposition has said the UCP government has hurt the province’s economic development and diversification by cutting nearly $700 million from post-secondary education and the elimination of the Alberta Investor Tax Credit that had been created by its NDP predecessor.

The party’s economic development and innovation critic, Deron Bilous, said Calgary and the province has been lagging behind others in tech investment well beyond the video games sector.

“While other jurisdictions continue to set new records for investment, Alberta has stalled under the UCP government,” Bilous said late last month.

“Instead of being leaders, we’re laggards.”

Echoing Bilous’ views was ESAC CEO Jayson Hilchie, who said Alberta once showed promise in tapping into the video game windfall until the UCP government ditched the NDP tax credit.

A similar incentive currently offered to the film industry should apply to his sector, he said.

“I’ve never understood why the government is perfectly happy to provide tax incentives to film but is saying we’re not worthy,” said Hilchie.

Alberta’s lower corporate tax regime isn’t effective in attracting digital media investment as is the availability of talent and credit incentives, he said.

The province does have work to do in enticing the video gaming sector to Alberta and is examining incentives that could be included in the government’s next budget, said Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer on Tuesday.

“We want to see if there’s further policy levers and one area we’re looking at is a second stream of the innovation employment grant,” he said.

“The work is still being developed.”

Nye said he’s happy to hear the province is considering new programs for his industry.

“That’s encouraging — we’ve had really good conversations with minister Schweitzer,” he said.

“With some of the advantages, Alberta has we don’t need really aggressive incentives, just something that’ll level the playing field.”

With files from Chris Varcoe

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

3 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

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

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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