Economic Development in Winnipeg

Highly-skilled, motivated workforce with competitive wages and low operating costs make for a winning combination for growth.

The Winnipeg Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) industry includes companies that manufacture communications and telecommunications equipment, electronic components and computer equipment, as well as wire and cable suppliers.

Companies involved in electronics are generally original equipment manufacturers that produce electronic housings, instrumentation panels and controls, printed circuit boards and monitoring devices. Software development and services firms have attained a level of expertise in the development of generic and packaged software, including accounting and financial packages, specialized engineering and manufacturing tools and multimedia authoring tools.

Winnipeg’s industry has a number of economic factor advantages, including: a highly skilled and creative workforce (both technical and artistic), competitive wages/salaries, low occupancy costs, the lowest electricity costs in North America, unimpeded access to North American markets and an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, with high-speed broadband access becoming the norm throughout the province.

Areas of expertise:

• Telecommunications: the most advanced fibre optic networking and digital switching platforms
• Professional Technical Services: business consulting services with superior strategic change and solutions deployment with onsite, outsourced or on demand delivery
• Geographic Information Systems: surveying, mapping, remote sensing, data conversion, system design and development
• Health Informatics: the capturing, transporting, converting, analyzing and delivering of healthcare related information
• Software Developers: financial and business management solutions, customized e-learning processes, integrated e-payment solutions and financial planning software
• Research and development infrastructure - Winnipeg’s ICT industry is supported by an extensive network of R&D facilities

WINNIPEG’S INTERACTIVE MEDIA SECTOR

Industry Sector Overview

Winnipeg’s interactive media industry sector is defined as digital media where there is a two-way flow of information between the user and the medium. This industry covers a broad spectrum of interests, including interactive entertainment, animation, publishing, computer systems design, motion pictures, audio and video production and distribution channels. Firms entrenched in software development and services have attained a level of expertise in the development of packaged software, including multi-function vertically-focused products for use in specific organizations, specialized engineering tools such as computer-aided design and multimedia authoring tools.

The Winnipeg film industry benefits from highly skilled workers, in particular, the sound recording, film and television and video industries benefit from a growing pool of talented, creative individuals. Winnipeg is home to music and motion picture professionals, songwriters, film production companies and sound and film craftspeople. The city’s film and sound recording industries are known nationally and internationally and continue to grow.

Interactive entertainment involves information, entertainment or communication products which use computerized technology in its creation or conversion into a digitized format that can be distributed electronically, controlled by a computer or both. Interactive media companies cover a wide spectrum of skills including computerized graphics, digital imaging, animation, 3-D and special effects, digital film and video production, digital sound/audio recording, publishing in digitized format as well as interactive CD-ROM authoring.

Areas of Expertise

• Film Specialization: animation, feature films, documentaries, multimedia, made for TV movies and television series
• New Media Specialization: computer animation, visual effects, video games, web, DVD/CD-ROM and software development
• International Broadcasting and Publishing