Canada Courted Ubisoft with Tax Breaks for Years. Then Came the Layoffs | The Walrus

"You lose your job like that-it sounds dramatic, but it's a traumatic experience. By 10 a.m., all seventy-one employees were laid off. Some started crying. Others were furious. Jean-Michel Detoc, chief mobile officer from the company's France office, walked through the front door, unannounced, delivering the news that would devastate the newly unionized workforce."

"A company-wide announcement later that afternoon spelled out the reasons: a 'shortage of viable work both immediately and in the forecasted future' meant that the Halifax office no longer had a 'justifiable mandate' to continue. I'm thinking this is really confusing, because we're all super busy, says Chris, highlighting the disconnect between company claims and employee reality."

"Ubisoft, the video game publisher behind massively popular franchises, like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, shrank from 21,000 employees globally to 17,000 between 2022 and 2026. In 2024/25, they cut as many as 500 jobs in Montreal as well as seventy-one in Halifax, demonstrating a pattern of significant workforce reduction."

Ubisoft's Halifax studio, which had recently unionized with strong 74% support through CWA Canada, was abruptly shut down on January 7, resulting in the immediate layoff of all 71 employees. The company cited a shortage of viable work and lack of justifiable mandate for the office's continuation, contradicting employee accounts of being busy. This closure is part of Ubisoft's broader workforce reduction from 21,000 to 17,000 employees globally between 2022 and 2026. Affected workers fear speaking publicly due to industry stigma against media engagement. The company has received substantial government support, including up to $2 billion in Canadian tax incentives since the 1990s, raising questions about public investment accountability and worker protections.

Read at The Walrus