Information and Communications Technology

General Industry Profile

With nearly 120,000 employees working in approximately 5,000 private companies, Greater Montréal is a world leader in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. Recognized for its diversity and creativity, the ICT industry of Greater Montréal has a pool of businesses that operate in the following sectors: manufacturing, software, electronic data processing services, telecommunications services, interactive digital media/services, audiovisual/digital sound, digital arts.

Key Figures
 

• 12,500 positions in R&D activities, including 7,500 researchers in private centers and 5,000 researchers in more than 100 university research centers
• Greater Montréal ranks 5th in North America for concentration of employees in ICT (2008)
• The ICT industry represents nearly 10% of private employees in the Montréal region
• The ICT sector contributes up to $12B to Québec's GDP (2007)
• More than $5B in exports

Benefits of the Region
 

• Labour
   

  • In addition to the four major Montréal universities and their affiliated institutions and schools, several specialized establishments offer university and pre-university training programs that meet the needs of the ICT industry: state-of-the-art telecom services, 3D animation and digital imagery, computer-assisted creative illustration, design and manufacturing.
  • Greater Montréal has nearly 11,000 university students enrolled in programs linked to the ICT industry (2007).
  • More than 2,700 university diplomas were awarded in 2007, including more than 800 in graduate programs.

• R&D

   

• The Montréal region has nearly 12,500 employees in R&D, who are distributed among private, public and university centres.
• Greater Montréal is the undisputed leader in Canada for amounts invested in university research since 1999.
• In addition to the private companies that pursue sustained R&D activities, Greater Montréal has several recognized public research establishments that collaborate with the ICT industry:
  
  
  
  • The National Institute of Scientific Research - Energy, Materials and Telecommunications
  • McGill Centre for Intelligent Machines (CIM)
  • The Microsystems Strategic Alliance of Québec (ReSMiQ)
  • Concordia Centre for Signal Processing and Communications (CENSIPCOM)
  • McGill Centre for Bioinformatics (MCB)
  • The Microelectronics Integration and Communications Laboratory  (LACIME)
  • The Centre for Advanced Systems and Technologies in Communications (SYTACom)
  • Technical Arts Society (TAS)

• Incentives
  
   

  • Companies in the ICT sector have access to specific programs: the tax credit for the development of electronic business, the tax credit for the production of multimedia titles and the tax credit on motion picture production services. The governments of Canada and Québec offer numerous tax incentives for companies in the ICT sector.
  • The governments of Canada and Québec offer numerous tax incentives to companies in the ICT sectors, including up to 20% in tax credits for R&D from the federal government, and 17.5% from the Québec government.
  • In addition to the tax credits for R&D, numerous other financial and tax incentives are offered to companies. Please contact us to determine if you are eligible for one of the following programs:
    
    
    
    • Financial aid for the creation of jobs and training
    • Tax holidays for foreign experts and researchers
    • Investment plan feasibility study
    • Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)
    • Strategic Investment Support Program [Programme d’appui stratégique à l’investissement (PASI)]
    • Economic Projects Support Program [Programme de soutien aux projets économiques (PSPE)]
    • PR@M Industry

  • Costs

  In the ICT sector, Greater Montréal offers operating costs that are among the most competitive in North America. According to the Competitive Choices study conducted by KPMG in 2008, Greater Montréal ranks 1st in the top 20 largest metropolitan regions of North America for the testing of electronic systems and the design of state-of-the-art software, notably due to the competitiveness of labour costs, the costs of industrial and office space, and energy costs.

  Main leaders
   

  • Autodesk
  • Bell Canada
  • CGI Group
  • DMR Fujitsu
  • Eidos
  • Electronics Arts
  • Ericsson Canada
  • IBM
  • SAP
  • Ubisoft