What is the Start-Up Visa Program In Canada? BC Immigration Lawyer Explains

The Start Up Visa Program is an immigration program that has gained a sudden spike in popularity in recent years. Announced in 2013, it allows individual entrepreneurs or groups of entrepreneurs looking to establish start-up businesses in Canada to obtain permanent residence in Canada if they secure support from an IRCC-designated funding or business incubation organization.  If you have a business idea that you would like to make a reality in Canada, the Start-Up Visa Program can combine your funding/support-seeking activities and your immigration application into one continuous process.

The Start-Up Visa Program’s Basic Requirements

There are various requirements for entry into this program. Below we list the most important ones:

Business Requirements of the Program

Anywhere from one to a group of 5 entrepreneurs/business owners can apply together under the same start-up project to the Start-up Visa program.

To qualify, each of the applying entrepreneurs/owners must hold at least 10% of the voting shares of the start-up business, and all the applicants plus their supporting designated organization must together hold more than 50% of the voting shares of the business. Your business must be legally incorporated in Canada, an essential part of the business operations must happen in Canada, and applying entrepreneurs/owners must provide active and ongoing management of the business from inside Canada.

Support from a Designated Organization

Your business must also get support from an IRCC-designated organization.  This comes in the form of a Letter of Support that the designated organization will issue you and your applying business partners, if you have any.  Designated Organizations come in three broad types: Venture Capital Funds, Angel Investor Groups, and Business Incubators.  Generally, venture capital funds and angel investor groups grant your business funds so you can establish and/or develop the business, and business incubators are a sort of “entrepreneur school” which connects you and your start-up business with resources that help you establish and develop your business, such as connections to mentors and expertise in the industry/field of your start-up business, business education, marketing and business development support, strategic planning, an office space to use as a base while in the incubation program, etc.

All of these designated organizations have their own criteria for which businesses they will support, such as the type of business and what it does, what social priorities the business promotes (for example, green technology, healthcare, etc.), the developmental stage the business is at, the viability of the business idea, and whether the entrepreneurs/owners have the skills or ability to play a critical role in the start-up business.  In return for supporting your start-up business, these designated organizations will take an ownership percentage of your business.  To qualify for immigration under IRCC’s Start-up Visa Program, for venture capital funds, you must successfully get them to invest at least $200,000 CAD in your start-up business; for angel investor groups, a minimum investment of $75,000 CAD; and for business incubators, you must secure acceptance into one of their business incubation programs.

Currently there are about 27 venture capital funds, 7 angel investor groups, and 51 business incubators all over Canada who are IRCC-approved as designated organizations.

Start-up Visa Program English or French Language Requirements

Each entrepreneur/owner applicant must take at least one of IRCC’s approved language tests, and get a result of at least Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in listening, reading, writing and speaking in either English or French. Approved tests include IELTS, CELPIP and PTE Core for English, and TEF Canada or TCF Canada for French.

Money Requirements for the Start-Up Visa Program in Canada

Each entrepreneur/owner applicant must also bring enough money to support themselves and their families in Canada.  How much money is needed depends on how many family members you have, and the current year’s standards determined by the Canadian government.  For example, for the current year (2024), a family of 4 including the entrepreneur/owner applicant will need at least $25,564 CAD to qualify.  This amount must be from your own money, and cannot be borrowed from someone else.

The Latest Start-up Visa Program Statistics

According to the latest available information, the Start-up Visa program has had a spike in popularity in recent years.  Although the program has been around since 2013, it was not until 2020 that a sudden increase in applications under this program occurred, eventually reaching a peak in 2022 of 5957 applications in that year.

Because of the sudden uptick in applications (and possibly slowdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic), a significant backlog of applications has built up, waiting to be processed at IRCC.  The average processing time for permanent residence applications in this program currently stands at an estimated 37 months from submission to decision, and to date, only about 32% of the total submitted applications have been processed. However, there is some possible good news for the future of this program.

In 2023 there was a large increase in the number of applications processed – totaling around 3300 applications for that year.  Compared to the total applications processed in 2022, which was 545 applications, that is a more than 6-fold increase in applications processed in a year.  If this trend continues, it is likely that the backlog will be significantly reduced and processing times will decrease. As well, the approval rates in this program so far have been good, with an approximate overall approval rate of 78% of all applications, with only around 16% refused, and about 5% withdrawn.

How Can An Immigration Lawyer Help You Immigrate to Canada Via the Start up Program?

When applying for this type of program you almost always need the help of an immigration lawyer or consultant. This is because:

• The admission criteria is very complex and requires expertise
• Your lawyer or representative will need to have a relationship with the incubators and know which ones suit you and your specific situation best
• Match you with the right business ideas and programs
• Help you in the second stage of the program

Getting support from a Designated Organization and applying under the Start-up Visa Program can be quite an involved and daunting process.  As mentioned above, there is an extensive list of designated organizations, all with their own criteria and processes for granting support to a potential start-up business.

An experienced immigration lawyer can help you narrow down designated organizations that are most likely to be compatible with your business idea, background, and vision.  Lawyers with experience dealing with certain specific designated organizations may also be able to help you with aspects of the application for support to that designated organization.

Once the Letter of Support has been obtained, an immigration lawyer can also give you step-by-step guidance on the second stage of applying to IRCC for permanent residence and/or complete the entire application on your behalf, and communicate with IRCC for the whole immigration process.

YLaw knows that having an experienced immigration lawyer can make all the difference in ensuring your immigration journey is as smooth and headache-free as possible, so you can focus your energy on your business. Contact us today or book directly to know what immigration program and steps suit you best.