Ubisoft shutting down Halifax studio despite nearly $1 billion in tax subsidies

HALIFAX (Jan. 14, 2026) – CWA Canada, the union representing laid-off Ubisoft workers, is demanding tougher accountability rules after learning that the company received nearly $1 billion in government tax credit subsidies in the last five years alone.

French Senate documents reveal that the video game giant received more subsidies from Canada (federal and provincial governments) than from all other countries where it operates combined (see attached chart in Euros).

According to the documents, Ubisoft got 605.6 million Euros (about C$980 million at today’s exchange rates) in tax credits from Canadian governments from 2020 through 2024. In Quebec, subsidies cover nearly a third of workers’ wages (see attached chart). By contrast, the company got just 135.6 million Euros (C$220 million) from France over that period.

Despite the massive subsidies, the company announced last week that it is closing its Halifax studio and laying off 71 workers – just three weeks after CWA Canada was certified to represent 61 staff – due to declining revenue and corporate restructuring. 

CWA Canada has filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Labour Board accusing Ubisoft of shutting down the Halifax operation to keep out the union.

The union is now calling on governments to put tougher conditions on corporate subsidies, including tax credits, to ensure companies don’t “dine and dash” at taxpayer expense.

“It’s outrageous that a company can take hundreds of millions in tax breaks – public money – and then shut down an operation and lay off workers,” CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth said. “And it’s shocking that governments allow it to happen.”

“We need immediate changes to hold companies to account. The rules must make it clear that if you close or significantly downsize a business, you must pay back any government subsidies.”

The union has vowed to keep fighting for better compensation and new jobs for the laid-off workers.

France-based Ubisoft is one of the world’s most successful game-developing companies, employing 17,000 people globally, including over 4,000 in Toronto, Winnipeg, and four cities in Quebec.

Ubisoft Halifax includes 71 producers, programmers, designers, artists, researchers and development testers. The 61 union members are part of CWA Canada Local 30111, which includes nearly 120 game workers at Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) in Montreal, and staff at the Montreal Gazette newspaper.

CWA Canada is the country’s only all-media union, representing 6,000 workers at the CBC, The Canadian Press, and newspapers, tech, digital media, video gaming, and other companies coast to coast.