1997 Survey of Toronto Area Multimedia Firms
The survey results presented here comprise the
first in-depth study of the multimedia industry in
the Toronto area and form part of Shauna Brail's
doctoral work at the University of Toronto,
Department of Geography.
A survey of all multimedia firms in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA) was undertaken for the purpose of
classifying and assessing the organization and
location patterns of the multimedia industry in the
Toronto area. The results are being used to help
develop a detailed picture of Toronto's multimedia
industry, and to help inform understanding of
emerging high technology industries in metropolitan
areas.
Focus of Ontario's Multimedia Industry: the
Toronto Area
The Toronto area represents the largest centre of
multimedia activity in Canada. For this study, a
total of 418 multimedia firms were identified in the
Province of Ontario. Table 1 displays the
intra-provincial location of multimedia firms in the
database. In total, 319 or 76% of all firms were
located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Sixty two
percent of all firms located in the province, or 81%
of all firms located in the GTA, are situated in
Metropolitan Toronto. The second largest cluster of
multimedia firms in the province can be found in the
Ottawa area, which contains roughly 10% of the
province's multimedia firms or 42% of non-Toronto
area multimedia firms.
TABLE 1: Location of Multimedia Firms in
Ontario
| Municipality |
# of Firms |
% of Province |
| Toronto |
171 |
41% |
| Ottawa/Nepean/Kanata |
42 |
10% |
| North York |
40 |
10% |
| East York |
22 |
5% |
| Mississauga |
22 |
5% |
| Markham/Richmond Hill |
21 |
5% |
| Etobicoke |
14 |
3% |
| Scarborough |
10 |
2% |
| Hamilton/Burlington |
8 |
2% |
| Guelph/Kitchener/Waterloo |
8 |
2% |
| London |
6 |
1% |
| Bramalea/Brampton |
4 |
1% |
| Kingston |
3 |
1% |
| Other/NA |
46 |
11% |
| Province Total |
418 |
100% |
Maps 1 through 4 show the geographic
location and metropolitan clustering of multimedia
firms in the Toronto area. Map 1 depicts the
dispersal of multimedia firms in areas surrounding
the metropolitan core as well as the concentration of
firms in the downtown area. Map 2 focuses on
the clusters of multimedia activity in Metropolitan
Toronto. Figure 1 shows the number of
multimedia firms in each municipality comprising
Metropolitan Toronto. There are 171 multimedia firms
in the City of Toronto, representing 66% of all
multimedia firms in Metropolitan Toronto (see Table
3). Map 3 identifies the location of
multimedia firms in Metropolitan Toronto in relation
to railway lines (signifying industrial areas) and
street networks. The largest numbers of firms can be
seen to be located in older industrial areas
(coloured grey) surrounding the urban core (see Map
4). These maps definitively show the urban nature
of the multimedia industry as well as the intra-urban
clustering of multimedia firms in older industrial
areas of the urban core.
MAP 1: Location of Multimedia Firms in the GTA
© Copyright 1997 Shauna Brail
MAP 2: Location of Multimedia Firms in
Metropolitan Toronto
© Copyright 1997 Shauna Brail
MAP 3: Multimedia Firms in Metropolitan Toronto
(click on map to view full-size version)
Map: © Copyright 1997 GCM Services
Inc.
Data: © Copyright 1997 Shauna Brail
MAP 4: Multimedia Firms in Downtown Toronto
(click on map to view full-size version)
Map: © Copyright 1997 GCM Services
Inc.
Data: © Copyright 1997 Shauna Brail
FIGURE 1: Distribution of Multimedia Firms in
Metropolitan Toronto
Survey of Toronto Area Multimedia Firms
A survey highlighting questions on multimedia
activities, firm organization and location patterns
was distributed to all GTA firms in the database in
February and March of 1997. The survey was
electronically distributed (E-mailed) to 286 firms
and mailed to 25 firms who did not have E-mail
addresses for a total of 311 delivered surveys.
Recipients were given the option of filling out the
survey electronically in an E-mail version, on the
Internet, or on paper. It was advertised and posted
on the MultiMediator
Web site and was also advertised by the Information Technology
Research Centre (ITRC), a provincially-funded
technology research centre. The advertising method
also enabled firms who were not in the database to
access and complete the Internet version of the
survey and/or to request a paper or E-mail version.
A total of 81 usable responses were received. Of
those, 79 were respondents from the electronically
distributed survey and 2 were respondents to the
mailed version. Seventeen surveys were received from
firms that were not in the initial research database.
This represents a response rate of 21.7% for the
electronically distributed surveys (not including the
responses from the 17 non-database firms), and an
overall response rate of 20.5% (mailed and
electronically distributed surveys). The survey
highlights several important features of the local
industry which will be discussed below.
Geographic Distribution of Firms
In comparison to the geographic distribution of
multimedia firms in the initial database, the
breakdown of firms in municipalities across the GTA
is as follows:
TABLES 2 & 3: Proportion of firms in the
GTA by geographic location:
TABLE 2: In Original Database
| Municipality |
% of Firms |
| Toronto |
54% |
| North York |
13% |
| Mississauga |
7% |
| Etobicoke |
4% |
| East York |
7% |
| Markham/ Richmond Hill |
7% |
| Scarborough |
3% |
| Brampton/ Bramalea
|
1% |
n = 319
TABLE 3: Responding to Survey
| Municipality |
% of Firms |
| Toronto |
67% |
| North York |
10% |
| Mississauga |
7% |
| Etobicoke |
5% |
| East York |
2% |
| Markham/ Richmond Hill |
2% |
| Scarborough |
2% |
| Brampton/ Bramalea
|
1% |
n = 81
The survey respondents appear to represent a
reasonably similar geographic mix in comparison with
the location of firms in the initial database, with
the exception of a larger proportion of respondents
located in the City of Toronto. There are a few
possible reasons for this discrepancy: a) firms not
located in the City of Toronto may have felt that the
survey was not geared towards them, despite the
Toronto-area focus and the fact that it was sent and
accessible to firms in all municipalities; or b) it
may be that firms in the City of Toronto constitute
more of the traditional multimedia work highlighted
by the survey and that firms located elsewhere
perceived that the questions did not apply to their
work as much.
