2025 Digital Entertainment Is Powering Mississauga’s Growth

In 2025, digital entertainment will no longer be a recreational activity but the heart of new urban economies across North American cities, including the dynamic city of Mississauga. Not only is this capturing consumer attention through immersive video games, several streaming platforms, and legal online casinos, but it also creates jobs and innovation, and is good for local economies and talent pools. Fueled by mobile connectivity, data-driven platforms, and shifting lifestyles, it’s a thriving ecosystem that touches nearly every aspect of urban living. Together, these technological and behavioral changes have made this industry central to the development of the modern city.

The Digital Economy’s Growing Footprint and Tech Jobs

The digital entertainment industry has a large influence. The Canadian video game industry, for example, contributed $5.1 billion to the national GDP in 2024, a 3% increase from 2021. The reason for that is tech jobs: software developers, graphic designers, data analysts, cybersecurity experts, and others. 

Ontario is home to a large majority of this sector, with many studios and a thriving ecosystem for attracting and retaining the best talent. There is tremendous demand for these skills, and locals who have graduated from the regional universities or are experienced professionals always seek to work on interesting projects. This sector generates local consumer spending, supports related services, and has a positive ripple effect in the community.

Beyond video games, regulated online casinos are also part of this growing digital landscape. In its second year (2023-2024), Ontario’s regulated online gaming market generated $2.2 billion in total gaming revenue, $2.7 billion to the province’s GDP, and 15,000 full-time jobs. 

That’s how real money online slots contribute to the digital economy, creating jobs and economic activity. The demand for skilled professionals across these digital sectors is high, and roles in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and cybersecurity are growing as businesses need digital solutions to innovate and compete. This is a stable and upwardly mobile workforce and a strong regional economic foundation.

A Hotbed of Digital Innovation

Mississauga is the city leading the charge in this digital transformation. It is located in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor and is the second-largest tech cluster in North America. The city is serious about a digital economy, and the numbers show that the software sector has grown by 138% in the last five years, outpacing other cities. This rapid growth is a result of the city’s investments in infrastructure and a welcoming environment for tech companies.

Mississauga’s innovation hub is supported by a robust ecosystem, including post-secondary institutions like the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and Sheridan College, which grow future talent. 

Initiatives like IDEA Square One, an anchor innovation hub, provide entrepreneurs and startups with resources, mentorship, and collaborative space. This attracts global and local companies, creating a talent pool in AI, cybersecurity, big data, and fintech. 

The city’s diverse advanced industry business base of over 11,000 companies doing research and development makes it a magnet for innovation and high-tech jobs. Collaboration between academia, industry, and government accelerates technological advancements and commercialization in the city.

Wider Economic Ripples and Community Benefits

Digital entertainment is more than just jobs in technology. Related industries, including digital marketing and advertising, cloud infrastructure, and payments processing, are growing due to consumers’ digital spending. 

Demand is booming for Mississauga’s local marketing agencies, IT support services, and creative firms as companies expand their digital capabilities. The digital transition has given small businesses the ability to operate online, becoming more visible, accessible, and efficient, and thus competitive within local economies. 

For example, local content creators, streamers, e-sports organizers, and media are finding new sources of income, places to connect with their communities, and a robust local culture.

It then becomes a magnet for talent since skilled workers are incentivized to move to cities where they can find jobs in cutting-edge industries. This new talent will again increase the demand for local services, housing, and consumer spending, creating a virtuous economic upturn. 

These flourishing digital industries, particularly regulated online gaming, help provide the tax revenue that supports public services and infrastructure development and overall quality of life for residents. 

The Future

Digital entertainment is an “under-the-radar” yet significant contributor to urban economic development in cities like Mississauga. Technology and shifting consumer behavior have created many tech jobs, a friendly ecosystem for new and established companies’ start-ups, and a lot of digital spend that benefits local businesses and talent, thus the growth. Ontario's online gaming industry is a good example of how many digital industries “sustain a solid economy.” By 2025, these digital forms of entertainment will have further integrated into the urban economy, establishing cities as places of innovation and prosperity.

A Brief History of Video Gaming in Canada

Here is a brief history of video gaming in Canada, from its humble beginnings in the early 80s to the development powerhouse it has become today. 

Canada has one of the world's biggest video game markets and is home to some of the industry's most successful video game development studios. The iGaming industry, which refers to a range of well-organised and legally permitted digital entertainment gaming activities, such as eSports events and fully licensed and regulated Ontario casinos that can be accessed across the internet, is also booming here. 

Here is a quick look at the brief history of video gaming in Canada, which, according to the history books, properly started in 1982, when Logidisque developed and released the first Canadian video game – Les Têtards. 

A brief history of video gaming in Canada

Although Logidisque is credited with releasing Canada's first video game, it wasn't until the following year when games like Quest for Tires and Evolution were released achieved substantial commercial success. The hugely successful and iconic video game Boulder Dash was also released in the same year. 

In the mid-to-late 90s, familiar companies that we know today, such as Ubisoft and Ubisoft Montreal, were established, thanks to government incentives that helped startup video game development studios thrive. Others, such as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Electronic Arts, soon followed and started popping up in areas of Canada where the cost of living was lower. 

By around 2015, over 50% of the Canadian population (approximately 19 million people) regularly played video games, and consoles have remained the most popular devices on which to play games. However, mobile gaming in Canada is also hugely popular these days. 

According to statistics, action-adventure games, first-person shooters, and family games are today's most popular video game genres, followed by puzzlers/word games, sports games, and casual games. 

Although Canada's video game industry may not be as big as the United States in terms of annual revenue generated, Canada currently has one of the world's fastest-growing video game industries that shows no signs of slowing down. 

The reason for the burgeoning gaming industry in Canada today is because of continued government support through tax incentives and other initiatives, huge investment, and a large talented workforce filled with highly skilled individuals. 

Over the coming years, experts project that Canada's video game industry will continue to grow and become a major global player. 

What are the most famous video games produced in recent years in Canada?

Some of the most famous video games ever produced in Canada, which some of you may already be familiar with by now, are the following hit titles:

• Assassin's Creed

• Mass Effect

• Cuphead

• PGA Tour 2K21

• Chivalry 2

• The Messenger

• The Long Dark

That's not forgetting Celeste, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Watch Dogs 2, Dead by Daylight, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, and Dragon Age: Origins, to name a few. 

Final thoughts

The video game industry in Canada is poised for significant growth, and some of the key factors that will help fuel this are technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), cloud gaming/computing, live streaming capabilities, more powerful computing devices, and faster internet speeds.