Thank you very much.
I in fact will not be making a long introduction because I am going to repeat many things that have already been said, particularly by the Interactive Ontario representative. We are two sister organizations within the Canadian government, in Quebec and Ontario, and we both belong to the Canadian Interactive Alliance. In short, our missions are very similar and we have virtually the same origins.
Alliance numérique has been in existence for 12 years. It is the result of the merger of three organizations that was conducted in order to make Quebec a centre of excellence for the development of the digital industry for all content, that is for the creation, production and distribution of digital content.
Alliance numérique's mandate is to support businesses and facilitate their development in a variety of ways. We play a major role in unifying the ecosystem as a whole around common issues. I often say that 95% of jobs in the video gaming industry in Quebec are held by Alliance numérique members. That means approximately 8,200 jobs. So we represent much of the video gaming industry.
In fact, Montreal is really the hub of video gaming in Canada because it has nearly 8,000 jobs in the video gaming field. Stéphane D'Astous, the president of Alliance numérique's board, is the general manager of one of the major studios, Eidos-Montréal, which is affiliated with a large Japanese group, Square Enix. That shows you how strong the international structure of the video gaming industry is.
Obviously, Alliance numérique, like many organizations in Canada, sees a connection, a convergence with other sectors, since our members also come from the e-learning, mobility and web services and applications sector. Digital is no longer vertical, but rather horizontal. So our content appears on various platforms and it is possible to consult or access that content.
One thing distinguishes us from other places in Canada, and that is the creation of the Montreal International Game Summit nine years ago. We had a short prospectus to show you but could not distribute it to you since it is in English. I apologize, but we only have English versions. That is just to show you that this summit is the most important event of its kind in Canada and on the east coast of North America. Our competitors are more in San Francisco or Seattle than on the east coast or in the rest of Canada.
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that Alliance numérique organizes a number of commercial activities or missions around the world. As you will see in the documentation we have submitted to you, we travel practically around the world every year with our companies to help them market themselves internationally, since the earth is only one country in the digital world. As the Quebec and Canadian markets are small, we have to move toward international markets if we want to ensure the success of our businesses.
There is one negative factor, and we would perhaps like to address that at greater length this afternoon. Financing is very difficult to obtain. The tax credits offered by the provincial governments support product creation, but there is very little assistance for commercialization. So we have trouble in many cases, particularly with regard to young start-up businesses that want to launch their own intellectual property. This is more difficult for them because, as we explained, they are often at the mercy of a major publisher or of corporations that corner a large percentage of revenues in exchange for the services they offer to ensure a product penetrates the international market as a whole, an approach that is really difficult and costly to take.
We would like to address three points or see the federal government address them. They are very important points in guaranteeing industry stability.
The first is to shorten the time it takes to obtain necessary immigration permits for our workers. Currently, it often takes 14 to 16 weeks to get an answer, which means that many studios are forced to abandon projects. The project as a whole, which normally requires 40 to 50 people over two or three years, cannot be done in Canadian studios. We deplore this situation.
In addition—and some stakeholders mentioned this earlier—there is not enough support for the proper commercialization and development of Canadian intellectual property in certain fields. An effort should really be made to clarify what it would take to improve assistance and to support businesses developing their intellectual property, in particular, but also to help them in that commercialization effort.
In closing, I would like to raise a third point, which was addressed in connection with the funding granted by the Canada Media Fund.
We talk about considering the video gaming industry as a full-fledged cultural industry in Canada, but funding through other cultural bodies should also be granted in a much more consistent and significant way.
If we round the figures, we can say that approximately 10% of funding from the Canada Media Fund is granted to what is characterized as experimental activities. It goes without saying that we loved the fact that our sector was characterized as experimental. In short, we are talking about approximately $33 million out of the $330 million or more that is paid out annually. That is barely 10%, which is very small, considering the impact, renewal, growth and salaries paid. In the case of the video gaming industry, we are talking about an average of $63,000 for each of the 16,000 people who work in it. That represents an enormous amount of money for the Canadian economy. Furthermore, these people are all good taxpayers, particularly at the federal level. Consequently, you will understand that it is important to provide more adequate support to the industry in this field, which could be a priority.
Now I will hand the floor over to Stéphane. We are here today above all to speak with you.