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If you’ve been searching for the best place to expand your business, look no further than Québec. In recent years, the province has emerged as a thriving hub of the creative industries sector.

Along with competitive operating expenses and tax credits that can cover a significant portion of your labour costs, Québec gives businesses access to a highly skilled creative workforce thanks to the presence of several exceptional educational institutions. What's more, the extraordinary quality of life in major cities like Montréal, can help you attract and retain the world’s top creative talent.

Still not convinced? Here are just two examples of creative businesses that have successfully opened branches in Québec: Digital Domain and Pixomondo.

Digital Domain - Talent and community thrive in Montréal

When Digital Domain, one of the world’s foremost VFX studios, sought to expand into a new market, it quickly became clear that Québec would be the perfect fit. John Fragomeni, Digital Domain’s Global President of Visual Effects Studios, says “Québec stood out to us as a significant and thriving talent hub with a strong sense of community within the visual effects industry, which was key to us.” Montréal's hip vibe and creative nature were particularly appealing to the type of young talent that the company wanted to attract. As Fragomeni points out, “it also offers artists a lower cost of living which was attractive to our candidates seeking an alternative city with a thriving VFX community.”

In addition to the city's booming cultural and creative scene, Fragomeni says that Digital Domain has greatly benefited from the advice and support of Québec governement agencies throughout the process of setting up their new, its state-of-the-art studio. “They have been fantastic in nurturing our talent and in allowing us to pass on considerable savings, flexible rebate that’s made us very competitive and attractive to our clients.”

Finally, Fragomeni states that since the expansion, the company has been able to foster a great sense of internal camaraderie between its Canadian offices, which has enabled them to take on more new projects. This, along with the sizeable tax credit, has made Digital Domain eager to continue to grow its Montréal studio and employ more stellar local talent.

Pixomondo - A tax credit that’s hard to ignore

When considering where to open its new visual effects studio, Vanessa Mésidor, the Office and Operations Manager at Pixomondo, says that the choice was easy. As she explains, the industry has been moving east in recent years, away from Vancouver. “Montréal is really booming in the industry, so it was a no-brainer to come here.” In addition, the Québec government offers businesses substantial tax credit, which makes the location hard to ignore.

Since it opened its Montréal office in 2019, Mésidor singles out the city’s diversity as one of the company's greatest assets. “The market is filled with amazing artists,” she says. While the city already has a large pool of incredible talent from a wide range of backgrounds, it also attracts top creatives from around the world.

Along with that talent; Pixomondo’s clients were also excited to see a new branch open in Québec. “We have eight branches throughout the world,” Mésidor explains, “but since we've been in Montréal, clients have wanted their products to be made here. They would ask what our next step was and when we told them it was to open this location, they were really interested. We do have a virtual production stage being built in Toronto, but the demand is so high that one of our next steps down the line will be to construct one in Montréal as well”. It doesn’t look like the VFX boom will be slowing down here any time soon.

As Digital Domain and Pixomondo have shown, Québec is an excellent place to expand your creative business. From its strong, diverse ecosystem, to remarkable government support, the province offers your business everything it needs to succeed. Clients and talent alike are sure to be excited by the prospect of doing business here.

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