British Columbia warns on Montreal tax incentives

This Canadian newspaper report warns that the British Columbian games development industry is being damaged by (considerable) tax breaks offered in Quebec to companies that set up development studios there. Those in BC are worried that, unsurprisingly, all the talent's upping sticks and setting up in Montreal.

"We would love to see the BC government step up and provide more incentives along the lines of what is offered in Quebec," said Josh Holmes, Propaganda Games VP, based in British Columbia.

The reason developers flock to Montreal isn't hard to understand. The Quebec government offered tax breaks of up to 50 percent on multimedia development in 1997, meaning huge studios have risen in Montreal in recent years from companies such as Ubisoft and EA. That percentrage was pulled back to 37.5 percent in 2003, but the lure is still, obviously, very strong.

Well worth a read.