Two reports have dived deep into the gaming sector’s impact on the Canadian tech ecosystem.
Indeed Canada has compiled a new report examining employer demand for gaming-related skills. To compile its report, Indeed looked at gaming industry-related job postings and searches in Canada between December 2015 and December 2017. Specifically, Indeed assessed which gaming-related jobs are growing and which jobs are gaining interest from job seekers.
“Montreal has emerged as Canada’s leading hub for gaming job creation, and that comes as no surprise since it’s home to one the world’s largest video game industries.”
– Jodi Kasten, managing director of Indeed Canada
“Gaming is big business in Canada—and it’s also a big employer, with openings for game designers, producers, programmers, artists, not to mention business, sales, and marketing roles,” said Jodi Kasten, managing director at Indeed Canada. “There’s no doubt that behind the glamour and excitement, gaming is a serious business subject to ups and downs like any other major industry. New technologies bring innovation and a demand for talent and new skills which leads to the creation of new job opportunities.”
According to Indeed, the demand for artificial, virtual, and augmented reality experts in Canada has grown significantly since December 2015. The searches for AR and VR jobs has grown by 148 percent.
Indeed’s report also found that since 2015, job seekers’ interest in eSports and game designer jobs has grown by 134 percent and 96 percent, respectively. However, employers’ demand for these jobs has decreased by 57 percent and 33 percent, respectively. When it comes to game testing and quality assurance jobs, the report revealed that employers’ searches for game testing talent have grown by 114 percent, while job seekers’ interest has only grown 3 percent since 2015.
According to a separate report by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC), Canada’s gaming industry plays a major role in the country’s economy. The Canada’s Video Game Industry 2017 report indicates that Canada’s gaming industry contributes $3.7 billion to the country’s GDP, representing a 24 percent increase from 2015. The industry also created 40,600 direct and indirect full-time jobs in 2017.
Indeed’s study of game-related jobs revealed that Montreal is home to 41 percent of Canada’s gaming job opportunities, followed by Vancouver, which makes up 20 percent of gaming job opportunities, and Toronto, which makes up 13 percent. This does not come as a surprise as the Startup Genome’s Global Startup Report 2018 also showed that Montreal is the centre of Canada’s gaming industry, hosting nearly 35 percent of all gaming studios and publishers in the country.
“Montreal has emerged as Canada’s leading hub for gaming job creation, and that comes as no surprise since it’s home to one the world’s largest video game industries,” said Kasten. “With 41 percent of Canada’s gaming job opportunities found here we can expect to see continued job seeker interest in this exciting industry.”
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