Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program Takes Aim At Silicon Valley – Canadian Immigration News
Jason Kenney, Canada’s Citizenship & Immigration Minister, recently returned from a trip to California’s Silicon Valley, a world-leading hub for high-tech innovation and development. The purpose of the trip was to promote the new Canada Start-Up Visa Program, designed to bring entrepreneurs, and their business ideas, to Canada. This new Canadian immigration program aims to bolster Canada’s already formidable tech industry by bringing new businesses, jobs and high-quality talent to the Canadian economy.
The Start-Up Visa Program enables Canadian private sector organizations to connect with a broader group of entrepreneurial talent, to facilitate start-up and expansion operations. The program is designed to help skilled, foreign entrepreneurs permanently establish themselves in Canada. The new Canadian Start-Up Visa Program also hopes to persuade non-citizen entrepreneurs facing visa expiration in the US, and other countries, to immigrate to Canada instead of returning home. Many are saying this is the first time Canada has clearly beaten the United States to the punch with regards to the development of entrepreneur-based immigration policy.
While in California the Minister attended the TiEcon 2013, the largest entrepreneur conference in the world. He also spoke at Stanford University, where he encouraged scholars, researchers and students to explore their options under the Canada Start-Up Visa. He subsequently spoke at an event hosted by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Minister Kenney met with influential players from the start-up and tech communities, to promote the Canadian Start-Up Visa Program and highlight the selling points that make Canada such an attractive place to start a new business. Representatives of business accelerators, start-up companies, immigration lawyers, angel investors and other businesspersons, were all on-hand to discuss the parameters and opportunities of Canadian Immigration’s new Start-Up Visa Program.
Minister Kenney explained that in order to successfully apply to the Start-Up Visa Program, candidates must solicit a government designated Canadian angel investor, or venture capitalist, that is willing to invest in their business. He reiterated that the new Canadian immigration program is designed to attract the best and brightest from around the world. The Minister discussed the significant demand expected for the new Start-Up Visa and cited low taxes, low operating costs, a high quality of life, and Canada’s strong economy as some of the reasons people are flocking to the new Start-Up Visa.
The Canada Start-Up Visa Program, which began accepting applications April 1, 2013, is an example of the government’s dedication to ensuring Canada’s immigration model evolves to continually meet its economic needs. The Start-Up Visa is the first of its kind in the world, and can be touted as yet another example of Canada’s innovative immigration policy. The Start-Up Visa Program is set to remain open for at least 5 years, at which point Canadian immigration officials will reassess the merits of the program.
For more information on the Start-Up Visa Program, contact a Canadian immigration lawyer at First Immigration Law Firm