New Chamber study on the creative industries: Avenues for action to succeed in a rapidly evolving environment

MONTRÉAL, Nov. 30, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal released its study Creative industries: succeeding in a rapidly evolving environment. This study confirms that our creative industries are a major hub for the city's economy and its international visibility and raises significant issues the sector needs to address in a rapidly changing environment. The goal of the study was to shed light on these transformations and update data from the 2013 Chamber study on the same topic.

"The creative industries are a source of pride for Montrealers and for all of Quebec," said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Chamber. "With estimated spinoffs of $9.4 billion province-wide in 2017, the economic impact of these industries is tremendous. The new Chamber study ? which reveals that employment has expanded in the past five years, reaching over 101,000 direct jobs in the city ? offers a powerful illustration of this."

"The industry has seen major upheavals in the past five years," Michel Leblanc said. "The study clearly shows that now more than ever, we need to think about paradigm shifts in how creative content is consumed, the transformations brought about by the digital world and the growing place occupied by a few major foreign online platforms."

"The study also shows that since 2012 Montréal has maintained its position with respect to employment intensity among North American cities," Mr. Leblanc said. "However, job creation in the other cities studied is growing rapidly, and Montréal's position, which up to this point has been enviable, is at risk. While Montréal has a diversified ecosystem, the city has to take action to ensure sustained growth."

"We have to do more and better to help local creators maintain their momentum, preserve their gains and ensure they have a place in new markets and on new platforms," Michel Leblanc said. "This requires major transformations, whether through mechanisms for consultation and collaboration, marketing skills, continuous development of talent or modern, equitable fiscal measures. The avenues for solutions proposed in the study we present today are a step in that direction. Now it is up to decision makers and players to adopt and implement them."

Avenues for solutions
The study proposes avenues for solutions to better showcase the creative potential of talent in Greater Montréal on the local and international scenes and to improve Montréal's ranking among cities with the greatest employment intensity in the creative industries. These efforts are structured around the following six strategic areas:

1.     Maintaining creative vitality so that Montréal remains fertile ground for creativity.

2.     Fostering training labour to ensure the development and growth of the creative industries.

3.     Stimulating growth in market share in the creative industries in Quebec and Canada.

4.     Focusing more on our creative skills and assets to generate more value for companies.

5.     Fostering growth and consolidation among companies to create a stronger, better balanced ecosystem.

6.     Adapting fiscal and regulatory policy to a context of rapid change.

Study highlights

• Since 2013, employment has continued to grow to over 101,000 direct jobs, accounting for 4.7% of the city's employment.
• In 2017, the creative industries generated estimated economic spinoffs of $9.4 billion as well as fiscal and parafiscal revenue for the governments of Quebec and Canada.
• Montréal has an enviable position in North America. In 2017, it ranked seventh in employment intensity, the same level as in 2012. However, during the same period, six of the ten leading cities saw stronger growth.

The study Creative industries: succeeding in a rapidly evolving environment was headed up by KPMG and conducted by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, in partnership with the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, the Ville de Montréal, the Direction régionale de Services Québec de l'Île-de-Montréal and the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation, with the support of Ubisoft, Cossette, Telus and Zú.

To consult the full study: ccmm.ca/etude_industries_creatives (in French only)

About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM)
With a network of over 7,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montréal business community and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city's businesses. With the support of the Acclr experts, the CCMM's goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.

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SOURCE Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal