B.C. film and game firms get tax gift

The provincial government is offering new tax breaks for video game makers and expanding tax credits for film companies to try to keep work in B.C.

Under the changes, tax credits on the labour costs of foreign movie and TV productions will jump to 33 per cent from 25 per cent, Finance Minister Colin Hansen and Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Arts Kevin Krueger announced Wednesday.

A new tax credit of 17.5 per cent will be offered on the labour costs of video game makers, while the credit for digital animation and visual effects makers will rise to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent.

The new tax credits — which still need to be approved by the legislature — will help keep B.C. competitive in an industry that contributes more than $1 billion to the provincial economy each year, the ministers said.

"This will serve to help keep B.C. at the forefront of the North American film and television industry, while providing a significant boost for video game production in our province," Krueger said in a statement.

The video game developer Electronic Arts cut hundreds of jobs at its offices in Burnaby, B.C., in November. The company at the time cited the tough market for game sales as a result of the economic downturn.