Canadian Business Immigration

An Introduction

Canada’s Business Class immigration policies are designed to attract those who can make a significant contribution to the Canadian economy. These programs are offered to attract entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and self-employed people from outside Canada with sufficient venture financing, strong business acumen, and entrepreneurial abilities to promote economic growth and improve the employment market.

By inviting foreign citizens who are acquainted with those markets and their specific requirements and cultures, Business Class immigration further aims to establish new business prospects in Canada and strengthen Canada’s access to rising overseas markets.

This branches into several immigration pathways.

Immigration Pathway Programs – Entrepreneur

Start-Up Visa – Immigrant entrepreneurs are encouraged to expand their businesses in Canada under the Start-Up Visa Program. Successful candidates are connected with private sector groups in Canada, from which they can obtain financing, assistance, and expertise in starting and running a business in Canada. Canada’s Start-Up Visa is aimed at entrepreneurs with the potential to start new businesses that can compete globally and help create jobs.

Quebec – The Quebec Entrepreneur subcategory was created to allow eligible company owners and managers to seek permanent residency in Canada if they can successfully establish or purchase an agricultural, commercial, or industrial firm in Quebec.

Immigration Pathway Programs – Investor

Quebec – Foreign investors and their families can get permanent residence permits in Canada by investing $1.2 million over five years with Investissement Quebec’s branch. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) requires applicants to plan to live in Quebec.

Immigration Pathway Programs – Self Employed

Federal – To be eligible for business immigration to Canada through the Self-Employed Persons Program, a candidate must show that he or she has pertinent agricultural, artistic, or athletic expertise that will enable them to be successfully self-employed in Canada and make a significant contribution to their field.

Quebec – The Quebec Self-Employed classification of Canadian immigration was created to allow qualified persons to gain permanent residence in Canada if they can effectively position themselves in Quebec by pursuing a trade or profession on their account.

Immigration Pathway Programs – Entrepreneur Startup Visas

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates for a Start-Up Visa need to fulfill the following criteria to be considered:

• Meet minimal English or French language standards (CLB score of 5 in all);
• Have enough money to settle in Canada;
• Complete medical and security clearances in Canada;
• Demonstrate that your firm is funded by a specified organization and that it complies with ownership requirements.

Under the Start-Up Visa Program, no more than five foreign people may seek permanent residency as part of the same business endeavor.

Investment

Many venture capital firms, angel investor groups, and business incubation organizations have been designated by the IRCC to partake in the Start-Up Visa program.

Applicants must meet the required investment for their start-up to be considered. The investment should be at least $200,000 if it comes from a certified Canadian venture capital fund. It should be at least $75,000 if received from an angel investor organization.

Applicants are not required to get any funding from a business incubator. Applicants must, however, be approved into a Canadian business incubator.

Candidates are not obliged to put invest their money.  Individuals given permanent residency under this scheme will keep their residency status if their start-up fails.

Commitment

The investor organization must present a complete Commitment Certificate directly to IRCC to establish that the application has received funding from a venture capital fund, an angel investor group, or a business incubator. This document contains information on the applicant’s and the investment organization’s agreement. Its objective is to describe the important aspects of the investing organization’s and the applicant’s commitment.

Additionally, the candidate will get a letter of support from the investment group, which they must present with their permanent residency application. If two or more applicants are members of the same business enterprise, the investing organization’s commitment might be contingent on one or more “essential people” gaining permanent residency. An essential person is someone who has been designated by the investing firm as being critical to the business. If an essential person’s application is denied for whatever reason, all other applications contained inside the Commitment Certificate would be denied as well.

Support

Syndication is when an applicant receives sponsorship from many authorized organizations. All parties involved must be named in this case. The chosen organizations will present IRCC with a Commitment Certificate and the applicant will get a Letter of Support (s).

Even if a certified angel group also invests in the business, once a designated venture capital firm participates in it, the minimum amount of investment invested in that business is $200,000.

If the firm obtains assistance from at least one registered angel group but not from designated venture capital organizations, the total investment amount must be at least $75,000.

Peer Review

A peer review method has been incorporated to prevent this pilot program from fraud. Its purpose is to ensure the legitimacy of transactions between investment groups and foreign national entrepreneurs. An immigration officer may request that a commitment be reviewed by a peer review panel. These panels were created by an industry group that represents the sort of investment firm that is making the commitment. The National Angel Capital Organization, for example, would be in charge of forming the peer review panel in the case of an angel investor organization.

If the party making the pledge is a venture capital fund, the Venture Capital and Private Equity Association of Canada is in charge. Peer reviews can be sought if the immigration officer feels it would help them make a better judgment, but they can also be launched at random. The immigration officer is not bound by the results of the peer review panel’s evaluation. It will only certify that the investment company has conducted the necessary inspections and investigations per industry norms. It will not express a judgment on the feasibility or wisdom of the idea in the issue.

The peer review assesses the designated organization’s degree of due diligence and examines things like:

• Verifies that the business was or will be incorporated in Canada;
• Guarantees that the ownership of the firm has been validated and that the program’s standards have been met;
• Assures that the authorized organization has analyzed the viability of the proposed business strategy, evaluated the management team for the company endeavor, and confirmed intellectual property ownership;
• Ensures that the company’s emphasis is on a high-growth-potential product or service; and
• Acceptance into a business incubator program analyzed is validated for candidates.

Because this is an experimental initiative, only 2,750 applications will be processed every year. Furthermore, the program’s term is set at five years. If the Start-Up Visa Program proves to be a success, the Canadian government may decide to make it permanent before the conclusion of the five-year period.

Immigration Pathway Programs – Provincial Nomination

Provinces can propose applicants for permanent residency who are qualified for business immigration. If you’re looking for business immigration possibilities in one of the provinces mentioned below.

• Yukon Business Nominee Program (YBNP)
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) – Operator
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) – Entrepreneur
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) – Ownership
• Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI-PNP) – Partial Ownership
• Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI-PNP) – Work Permit
• Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) – Entrepreneur
• Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) – Corporate
• Northwest Territories Nominee Program – Entrepreneur
• Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) – International Graduate Entrepreneur
• Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) – Entrepreneur
• New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) – Post Graduate Entrepreneur
• New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) – Entrepreneur
• Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) – Business Investor (Investor)
• Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) – Business Investor (Entrepreneur)
• British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) – Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot 
• British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) – Entrepreneur Immigration
• Alberta Self-Employed Farmer Stream
• Federal Self-Employed Persons Program
• Federal Start-up Visa Program
• Quebec Self-Employed Worker Program
• Quebec Entrepreneur Program
• Quebec Immigrant Investor Program