Posted July 7, 2025 4:59 pm.
Last Updated July 7, 2025 5:00 pm.
The B.C. provincial government is giving a boost to the tax credit it gives to the digital media industry.
Announced at gaming giant Electronic Arts’ (EA) office, currently located in Burnaby, B.C. Premier David Eby said the tax credit of 17.5 per cent will now be increased to 25 per cent.
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Additionally, the existing tax credit will be changed from temporary to a permanent tax credit.
The changes will come into effect on Sept. 1, 2025, and businesses can claim the credit on salaries and wages.
All businesses that develop and produce interactive digital media, including video games, educational software, and simulators can claim it.
The province explained the reduced tax will benefit 230 technology companies in B.C., of which 161 are video game companies like EA.
Eby said the tax credit is “to ensure that our gaming sector, that our interactive digital media sector, is the most competitive in the world.”
Eby was joined by B.C.’s Minister of Finance, Brenda Bailey, who has a professional background in B.C.’s creative technology sector, said that she has been playing video games in British Columbia since she was 11 years old.
“This industry has contributed so much to our province in many, many different ways,” Bailey said.
“We have grown incredible technologists in British Columbia, partly because of the quality of games that have been made here.”
The minister said the interactive digital media sector is an important part of the province’s GDP.
“And this talent does not only impact our video game sector here in British Columbia, it impacts our technology sector at large,” Bailey said.
Tax credit is part of B.C.’s 2025 budget
The government hopes this tax credit will spark hiring, investment, and growth in the sector.
The increased tax credit is reflected in the provincial 2025 budget.
Based on government statistics from 2023, the interactive digital media industry employs over 21,000 people in B.C. and generates $1.9 billion to the provincial GDP.
Jean Marie Owens, board chair of DigiBC, the Creative Technology Industry Association of British Columbia, said the tax credit might be the deciding factor for some companies considering moving their headquarters to Vancouver.
“I have spoken to someone out of the U.K. and out of the U.S. who are interested in bringing headquarters into Vancouver,” she said at the press conference.
She added that there are many opportunities in the province.
“We have over 175 studios here. We have 12,000 jobs, and we have dozens of specialized post-secondary education programs.”
