Village Gamer

From coast-to-coast, Canadians believe it is important to support their local small businesses and many are willing to take action to do so. According to Scotiabank’s Small Business poll conducted by Harris/Decima, 85% of Canadians are willing to tell others about their local small businesses. Respondents said that they will walk or drive further (63 %), and 43% are willing to pay more in order to support small businesses in their community. Read the rest of this entry »

For many, “innovation” evokes notions of “radical change” or “transformation,” but Canada’s 2.4 million small business owners have a different definition. For them, innovation is less about disrupting markets and more about changes that generate the greatest impact for them and their livelihood. Read the rest of this entry »

From the MEIC blog: The Mobile Experience Innovation Centre (MEIC), a trade organization promoting job creation and economic prosperity in Ontario’s mobile media ecosystem, is calling upon content producers and technology companies with mobile offerings to complete the 2011 Mobile Innovation Survey.

It is widely believed that Ontario is a powerhouse for mobile development, but there is little research publically available to support that claim.  MEIC, through the 2011 Mobile Innovation Survey, intends to produce a profile of Ontario’s mobile content, services, and application companies. Your participation in this effort will help quantify Ontario’s mobile media industry.

According to the 2011 RBC Small Business Survey conducted by RBC and Ipsos Reid, Canadian entrepreneurs say the most important pieces of advice that they would give to other entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses are:

1) develop an effective business plan – 44%
2) manage your time well – 43%
3) engage in networking – 38% Read the rest of this entry »

Visa Canada has released its second annual Deceptive Marketing Survey, revealing that 21 per cent of Canadian credit card holders have been the victim of unauthorized charges resulting from an offer they accepted online or over the phone.

Visa conducted its national survey of more than a thousand Canadians to gauge awareness and educate consumers about the dangers of deceptive marketing practices, which typically involve hidden clauses in offers or terms that are not well disclosed resulting in recurring payments or additional fees.  Although 79 per cent of respondents from the Prairie Provinces claim to be aware of deceptive marketing, the percentage of cardholders being victimized is worryingly high. Read the rest of this entry »

Canada continues to slip further down the learning curve and is falling behind the international competition in many stages of education and learning, says a new report released by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). The report, titled What is the Future of Learning in Canada? (PDF), outlines positive developments in each area as well as troublesome trends and makes recommendations for improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

Canadians know far more about how to use digital technologies than about how to protect themselves and others from vulnerabilities created by those technologies. To counter the growing range of cyber threats, this gap in knowledge and awareness needs to be closed, says a Conference Board of Canada report, It’s All About You: Building Capacity in Cyber Security.

The report, which is available as a free download (PDF) from the Conference Board of Canada’s e-library (free account registration required), was produced with the support of the Centre for National Security. The Centre provides a trusted forum for public and private sector organizations to engage with each other on the critical issues affecting Canada’s national security today and in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

UNIT4 Business Software’s parent company UNIT4, a provider of business software for Businesses Living IN Change (BLINC™), has announced the results of a survey undertaken by Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), which has found that many higher education institutions are not meeting business-change management requirements as a result of rigid enterprise software that is costing them between $100K and $1 million to make changes after the software is installed. Read the rest of this entry »

Ottawa could better foster business innovation in Canada by creating a competitive tax system across the entire innovation value chain, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In Rewarding Innovation: Improving Federal Tax Support for Business R&D in Canada, author Mark Parsons says Ottawa should focus its efforts on improving the tax treatment of the fruits of innovation – income from intellectual property and production of new goods and services – while maintaining incentives for investment in research and development. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toronto International Film Festival is just days away and the future looks bright for the film industry, according to PwC. The firm’s study shows global consumer spending on filmed entertainment will grow at a 5.9% compound annual rate over the next five years reaching US$114.8 billion in 2015 from $86.2 billion in 2010. This growth is strongest in markets showcased at TIFF, and Canada’s biggest film festival will screen more than 300 films from over 60 countries.

Producers from both major and emerging markets like China, Vietnam, Romania, Russia and India will see high compound annual growth rates ranging from 10% – 26%, between now and 2015. At the same time markets in North and South America, Europe and the Middle East will see moderate to strong gains between 3% and 9%.

“Revenues for filmed entertainment will be fuelled by the youth market and a variety of options for consumers to access movies. Watching movies online and via mobile devices will supplement box office spending on filmed entertainment,” says Michael Paterson, partner in PwC’s Entertainment & Media practice. “Expect to see higher quality film experiences for consumers as the industry looks for new ways to stay competitive by differentiating the way we access movies and enhancing the movie going experience.”

*Includes consumer spending at the box office, cinema advertising, in-store rental market, physical sell-through market, and electronic distribution.

According to PwC, worldwide box office spending will increase from US$33 billion in 2010 to US$48.7 billion by 2015, an 8.1% compound annual interest gain, supported by the growth in 3-D film screens. The increase in the number of 3-D screens will raise average prices which consumers will pay, keeping movie admissions steady. In 2010 in Canada, there were 350 3-D screens and the average price of a single movie ticket rose 5.5% over 2009, the first gain of more than 5% since 2000.

“While consumers may become more selective in choosing to see a 3-D film over the next few years, we believe 3-D and other innovations will have a long-term positive impact on admissions because these enhancements help to distinguish the theatrical experience from the home video and online experiences of watching a movie,” says Paterson.

In Canada, film and TV production generated about $6.8 billion in GDP in the Canadian economy in 2010 and led to the employment of over 117,000 individuals on a full-time basis across the country. North America will continue to be the biggest region for filmed entertainment, growing at 5.2% from US$39 billion in 2010 to over US$50 billion by 2015.

Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec have the highest share of total volume production in Canada at 39%, 27% and 25% respectively.

“Tax incentives are a critical part of the growth of the film industry, including domestic and international co-productions,” says Tracey Jennings, PwC’s Canadian Entertainment & Media Leader. “PwC continues to assist clients to obtain these tax credits which help to offset the cost of production in Canada. We have also seen many of the provinces enhance, and others introduce, digital media tax incentives which are becoming more important in a world of digital convergence. “