Canada
Canada is a G7 country, with a fast growing economy, and is consistently voted as one of the best countries to live in. Canada welcomes hundreds of thousands of people as new permanent residents each year.
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Canada Start-Up Visa (SUV)
Canada’s start-up visa program allows entrepreneurs with an innovative business idea to become a Canadian permanent resident by starting a business that will develop the nation’s economy and create new job opportunities in Canada. Business owners and entrepreneurs seeking to benefit from the permanent residency status can use this as a means of expanding into the Canadian market and compete on a global scale.
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Eligibility
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1. Qualifying Business Requirements
- -A designated organization must commit to your company
- -All candidates (a maximum of 5 owners can apply) must hold a minimum of 10% voting rights of all shares connected to the company
- -Inclusive of the designated organization, the applicant must hold a minimum of 50% voting rights of all the shares connected to the company
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2. Letter of Support
Successful applicants should receive a letter of support from a designated organization that shows they are willing to provide support and invest resources into the Start-Up idea. These organizations include:
- -Venture Capital Firms ($200,000 investment);
- -Angel Investor Groups ($75,000 investment); and
- -Business Incubators
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3. Language requirements
The applicant must take a language test from one of the designated testing agencies. They must meet the minimum score of Canadian Language Benchmark 5 (CLB 5) for each language ability (reading, speaking, listening and writing) for at least one of the official languages of Canada, i.e. English and French.
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4. Proof of Fund
Candidate must show that they have enough money to settle in Canada. This is not needed if they currently are able to legally work or have a valid job offer from an employer.
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Designated Organizations
Start-Up visa applicants are required to submit a letter of support obtained from a designated organization:
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Venture Capital Fund
- - 7 Gate Ventures
- - BCF Ventures
- - BDC Venture Capital
- - Celtic House Venture Partners
- - Extreme Venture Partners LLP
- - Golden Venture Partners Fund, LP
- - Impression Ventures
- - Innovation Platform Capital International LP
- - iNovia Capital Inc.
- - Lumira Ventures
- - Nova Scotia Innovation Corporation (o/a Innovacorp)
- - Pangaea Ventures Ltd.
- - PRIVEQ Capital Funds
- - Real Ventures
- - Relay Ventures
- - ScaleUp Venture Partners, Inc.
- - Top Renergy Inc.
- - Vanedge Capital Limited Partnership
- - Version One Ventures
- - Westcap Management Ltd.
- - Yaletown Venture Partners Inc.
- - York Entrepreneurship Development Institute (YEDI) VC Fund
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Angel Investor Groups
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Business Incubators
- - Alacrity Foundation
- - Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
- - Biomedical Commercialization Canada Inc. (operating as Manitoba Technology Accelerator)
- - Creative Destruction Lab
- - Empowered Startups Ltd.
- - Extreme Innovations
- - Genesis Centre
- - Highline BETA Inc.
- - Innovacorp
- - Interactive Niagara Media Cluster o/a Innovate Niagara
- - Invest Ottawa
- - Knowledge Park o/a Planet Hatch
- - LatAm Startups
- - Launch Academy – Vancouver
- - LaunchPad PEI Inc.
- - Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship
- - NEXT Canada
- - North Forge Technology Exchange
- - Platform Calgary
- - Real Investment Fund III L.P. o/a FounderFuel
- - Ryerson Futures Inc.
- - Spark Commercialization and Innovation Centre
- - Spring Activator
- - The DMZ at Ryerson University
- - Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC)
- - TSRV Canada Inc. (operating as Techstars Canada)
- - VIATEC
- - Waterloo Accelerator Centre
- - York Entrepreneurship Development Institute
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Process & Timeline
A designated organization must support the business idea of the foreign applicant, applying for the PR through the SUV route. The processing time for the Canadian Start- Up visa is between 12 and 16 months.
