Industry committee  I think it's the level of expertise and rarity, also. This is a fairly young industry, so we don't have many people who are, for example, the creative director type. There are not that many of these guys out there who have created high-level games who we could hand a Batman franchise, for example, that they would do.

Industry committee  What you point to is one of the interesting peculiarities of our industry: there are so many different needs, and we have so many job types that we cater to many different academic programs and many different employer profiles. For example, we have a level designer who may not have formal training per se.

Industry committee  Well it's actually both. We don't say that we need only people who graduate from university, but we'll look for someone who has been playing games for a really long time and knows them inside out, so it's really a mix of everything. It's a little hard to really sort of peg down, but we find success in our ability to mix it up, really.

Industry committee  Today we consider that it is, and pretend to be that because of the concentration of talent that we have. If we go back, it is about universities, colleges, academic training, being on the edge, and having that culture of academia. It's also about creativity. It's about having, in a sense, that je ne sais quoi that you find, and it's that sort of spark that created Cirque du Soleil.

Industry committee  That would probably help.

Industry committee  To your point I would say, yes, this is a fast-moving industry. What I like to point to is that when we started the studio on June 1, 2010, the iPad didn't exist, and now that's become a major gaming device. It just shows the speed at which our industry moves. We're very appreciative of programs such as the SR and ED credit that allow us to take the extra risk of investing in this cutting-edge technology.

Industry committee  Yes, and we want to make sure that keeps going.

Industry committee  Whenever we need to get someone in the country, we're always in a rush. It's very indicative of our industry. We're in a rush with technology. We're in a rush with talent. This is very fast moving. There's also the issue of lead time as you said. If we're not acting today, then we're wasting a lot more time down the line.

Industry committee  I've been around since about 1997 in the games industry in Montreal, so I've had time to see things ebb and flow and there was a time where it was actually a lot more about competition than it was about cooperation. We'll always be competing companies in the sense that we put out competing products, but I would say over the past two years there has certainly been a change in the scenery in the fact that now the companies in Montreal—and also in Quebec City, where there's another sizable hub—are definitely working together.

Industry committee  You look for the oversized thumbs, that gives it away, usually. There's no particular curriculum that people follow. It's probably one of the areas in our industry that hasn't yet really professionalized itself. There are some programs more on the high school level in Montreal that guide people towards this, but it's not—

Industry committee  It's about knowledge. The cliché is that people are just playing, but they're actually really testing and they have extensive and exhaustive test cases that they have to go through and follow, so it is very technical work. I worked in aerospace before 1997, before games, and in testing QA there was a very professionalized approach in that you can get a technical degree in that kind of QA-ing.

Industry committee  He could be. I'll make sure to check afterwards.

Industry committee  It is multiplayer, so maybe someone else is using their iPhone to play with Mr. Van Kesteren. That is the type of innovation we've been able to create out of Montreal using the different programs that I have mentioned before. That game, using the Lego licence that we work with, is something that is unique, that you can play on the web and you can play also on your iOS Apple device.

Industry committee  Good afternoon. Thank you so much for having me this morning. I would like to first apologize. I have a “man cold”, so I may sound a little “Clint Eastwoodesque”, but since I'm from Warner Bros., that should be a good fit. My name is Martin Carrier. I am Studio Head at Warner Brothers Games Montréal.

Canadian Heritage committee  I will answer in general terms.