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Canadian Games to a Global Market

According to Business Insider, the Gaming industry as a whole is anticipated to contribute upwards to $139 Billion by 2022 in global revenues. In Canada, there is a growing number of companies producing games, and the vast majority of those, over 80%, are small businesses. It’s clear that there are a lot of opportunities and the potential is enormous for the gaming entrepreneur to break into the international market. 

The Global Canadian Business Forum had the pleasure of interviewing Jean Leggett with One More Story Games to get her advice to game developers about what they need to do to market their games to the world. 

Global Canadian Business Forum YouTube Video

Recently, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada released its 2019 economic impact study – The Canadian Video Game Industry 2019, exploring industry growth and contributions to Canada’s economy. 

The document looks at the industry through five lenses: economic impact, size and structure, geography, employment impact, and workforce. Canada’s video game industry is well-positioned for continued growth; in the last two years, the number of Canadian video game companies increased by 16%, to 692 active studios. The industry contributed $4.5 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2019; and, supports an estimated 48,000 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) of employment including 27,700 FTEs directly employed by video game companies. 

As the gaming industry is, for all intents and purposes an international market, Global Affairs Canada has taken serious note of the industry. The Trade Commissioner Service participated in the latest Montreal International Gaming Summit (MIGS) last week to support Canadian studios wanting to launch their product to the world. 

“While companies are thriving in Canada’s strong video game development sector, our industry continues to sit at the centre of an innovation ecosystem that is driving growth in Canada’s Digital Economy,” said Jayson Hilchie, President & CEO of ESAC. “With many of the world’s biggest franchises driving strong job growth in this country, our industry will continue to punch above its weight and lead the world in the development of exciting and innovative digital entertainment.”

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GCBF Signs Strategic Partnership Agreement with Canadian Chamber in Italy

Canadian Chamber in Italy and GCBF

The Global Canadian Business Forum is proud to announce the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Canadian Chamber in Italy.  

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is the first for the GCBF, and represents an important step as we work to realize our goal of connecting Canadian entrepreneurs with resources to help them succeed abroad.  Italy is an amazing trading partner with Canada and the Canadian Chamber located in Milan is working hard to further develop relationships between Canadian and Italian organizations. We are proud of this partnership and look forward to working with Jose Salgado, president of the Canadian Chamber in Italy.  

The signing of the agreement allows for the Global Canadian Business Forum and the Canadian Chamber in Italy to collaborate with each other and to execute their respective mission statements, mandates for our mutual interests and benefits of stakeholders.

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Canada’s Cannabis Companies Expanding Their Export Horizons Internationally

There has been a lot of talk about the Cannabis Market crash, the result of the fact that both federally and provincially, red tape on retail has not kept up with production output. Eve & Co., a producer in Southern Ontario, is one of the few companies that are poised to take advantage of export opportunities at a time that every cannabis producer needs to be thinking about it.

Eve & Co. is Canada’s first female founded licensed producer of medicinal marijuana and received its cultivation license from Health Canada in 2016. Since international markets for Cannabis products and CBD are far more lucrative than in Canada, Eve & Co. continues to sign agreements with Germany. The company has recently entered into a third binding, non-exclusive supply agreement for the sale of dried cannabis to a German importer and distributor.

Having established three supply agreements with Germany. The total represents a minimum of 116,000kg over the next 5 years (shipping to start early 2020) with a total value of $416 million (assuming a wholesale price of $3.50). 

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Most CBD cultivators and producers in Canada are not only focusing on the Canadian market but also deploying some assets overseas. Considering how things have unraveled in the Canadian market in recent months, Eve & Co’s strategy makes more sense in hindsight.

The German market, has been touted as one of the largest cannabis markets outside North America. Eve & Co. hopes that cannabis laws will become less restrictive throughout Europe, which will allow it to expand similarly into more markets.

Canada has a 20-year head start on the United States in growing and processing hemp. It has allowed commercial hemp production since 1998, and within two decades, has established itself as a world leader in the production of food products as well as agricultural seed for planting, according to a study.

Canada legalized production in 1998 and since then has produced hemp primarily for nonviable hempseed used in food products. The industry has grown rather slowly over the past 20 years as producers worked through agronomic issues and a limited number of processors developed hemp products and markets.

But in 2018, Canada’s acreage shrank as the nation lagged behind its southern neighbour in developing a market for hemp extracts such as CBD, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that highlights Canada’s industrial hemp industry. More than 70% of the country’s 5,400 metric tons of hempseed exports last year went to the U.S., with the remainder being sent to European Union-member countries and South Korea.