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Opportunity Lives Here

Permanent Residency Canada

Start-Up Visa a Boon for Foreign Entrepreneurs and Canadian economy

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Alexander promotes Canadian immigration program to bring enterprising start-ups to Canada

KITCHENER, ON — On August 14, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander met with Communitech and other Kitchener-Waterloo businesses at a roundtable discussion of Canada’s Start-Up Visa program and its potential to import fresh entrepreneurial talent into the country.

Launched in 2013 as part of a government initiative to stimulate economic growth, the Start-Up Visa is the first program of its kind worldwide. It connects Canadian investors in the private sector with foreign entrepreneurs aiming to establish their start-up companies in Canada. Under the program, entrepreneurs from abroad can apply for permanent resident status if Canadian firms act as angel investor groups to furnish them with financial support. By courting innovative entrepreneurs and facilitating their entry to the country, the program will create new Canadian jobs and help meet the country’s changing economic needs.

First successful Start-up Visa applicants

On July 16th, the Start-Up Visa program admitted its first successful applicants: Stanislav Korsei and Oleksandr Zadorozhnyi from the Ukraine. Korsei and Zadorozhnyi gained the support of Vancouver’s GrowLab Ventures, Inc. to develop their company, Zeetl Inc. in Canada.

Through Zeetl, Canadian companies can monitor various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for customer grievances about their products or services. Zeetl then provides the customers with a unique link to a local tech support line that they can call for assistance with their problem. Zeetl’s services thus enable Canadian businesses to manage their online brand image by quickly locating customer complaints and moving the resulting support conversations offline where they can be effectively resolved. Minister Alexander met personally with GrowLab, Korsei, and Zadorozhnyi in Vancouver in July to welcome Zeetl Inc. to Canada.

Alexander celebrated the significance of Zeetl’s arrival:

“Our government is proud to welcome the first successful applicants of the Start-Up Visa Program and we look forward to the success of their venture and other opportunities that will help create more jobs for Canadians.”

Kitchener-Waterloo businesses are encouraged to support foreign entrepreneurs

The roundtable in Kitchener followed on the momentum of Alexander’s Vancouver meeting. Throughout the discussion, Alexander emphasised the value of the Canada Start-up Visa program, and reminded potential start-up investors of the national need “to attract the best entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world.”

Doug Cooper, Managing Director of Communitech, was one of the business leaders present at the roundtable who commented on the efficacy of the program.

“We choose the best and we want them to start, grow and succeed here in the Waterloo Region,” Cooper expressed in an official statement. “The Start-up Visa Program helps us attract and keep the best entrepreneurs from anywhere on the globe.”

Express Entry system to launch in the new year

The success of Canada’s Start-Up Visa program is the precursor to forthcoming developments in Canadian economic immigration. January 2015 will mark the inauguration of Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s brand-new electronic application management system, Express Entry. This system will recruit and fast-track the entry of even more economic immigrants into the Canadian labour market than ever before.

To speak with a Canadian immigration lawyer, contact First Immigration Law Firm toll-free in North America @ 1-855-360-4333 or internationally @ 514-360-4333