Yesterday I posted about the move of the Bell Account from the Cossette’s Toronto office to the Cossette Montreal office. Today I come to you with some speculations as to the REAL reasons for the move - money. The move of the Bell Account to Montreal, will save Cossette money.
1. Salaries are lower in Montreal. It is at about a 10 - 20% difference in average advertising salaries between Toronto and Montreal. The “official” reason for this is lower cost of living in Montreal. The reason this really pisses me off is because, all the big agencies in Toronto pay you shit to begin with. They way they see it you are working for them for the “prestige” of their name … your salary is secondary. This really pisses me off because now Cossette can pay their people EVEN less. I checked the “range” for Creative Directors in Montreal versus Toronto, and they get about $20 K less in Montreal … wonder why Simon Creet and Simon Duffy decided not to make the move.
2. Corporate Tax Breaks in Quebec. I can not find a reference on the web, but I do know that Corporations in Quebec get tax breaks on advertising/marketing creative that is produced in Quebec. I don’t know how much … but if Bell is streamline their operations, wouldn’t they pressure their AOR to reduce costs? And Cossette already HAS an office in Montreal who is eligble under this tax break, they just needed to pull the Beavers into Montreal.
Here’s some other tax breaks that both Cossette and Bell are eligible for:
Consumption Tax breaks - Corporations in Quebec “do not assume the tax burden on inputs used in their commercial operations”.
Capital Tax Exemptions - Corporations get an exemption on the first $1 million (CDN) in taxable income.
Source - Benefits of Investing in Quebec
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