Canada’s Start-up Visa Program is designed to attract individuals who have the skills and potential to establish businesses in Canada that:
- Are innovative
- Can create jobs for Canadians
- Can compete on a global scale
If the entrepreneur is able to get support for their start-up idea from any of the organization that is approved by Canadian government to invest, they can immigrate to Canada.
There are various benefits of establishing your business in Canada that include:
- A strong economy
- Low taxes
- Low business costs
- Excellence in research and innovation
- A high quality of life
To be eligible for the Start-up Visa Program:
- Business need to get complete support by a designated organization
- Designated organizations are business groups that have the approval of Canadian government to invest or support possible start-ups.
- Designated organization that is willing to support start-up business will have to give a Letter of Support which is essential document for Start up Visa application.
Start-up Visa program
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Investment Requirements
- The investment is coming from a designated Canadian venture capital fund, then it must be at least $200,000.
- If the investment is coming from a designated Canadian angel investor group, then it must be at least $75,000
- Entrepreneur does not need to secure any investment from a business incubator. However, entrepreneur must be accepted into a Canadian business incubator program.
Ownership requirements
Only up to a group of five people can apply for Start-up Visa Program as owners of a single business. The requirements include:
- Each applicant needs to have 10 percent of voting rights in the business and
- The designated organization along with the applicants must have 50 percent voting rights in the business.
Language Requirements
The applicants must be able to communicate and work in English or French or both. An entrepreneur must take a language test and meet the minimum level of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in either English or French in all of these four areas:
- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
