The Start-Up Visa Program focuses on entrepreneurs who want to immigrate to Canada. Specifically, those who can build businesses and create jobs for Canadians and Permanent Residents. The start-up visa allows applicants to obtain their Permanent Residency.
To be eligible for the Start-up Visa you must:
- Have a Letter of Support from a designated angel investor group (must secure at least $75,000 in support from this group) or venture capital fund (must secure at least $200,000 from this group) or business incubator (no initial investment from this group required)
- Have a business that meets the ownership requirements
- Ownership requirements are:
- Up to 5 people can apply for a Start-Up Visa
- Each of those applicants must have at least 10% of voting rights or more in that particular Start-up
- The designated angel investor group or venture capital fund or business incubator and the applicants must jointly hold more than 50% of the voting rights
- Meet the Canadian language benchmark (CLB) 5 in all four categories (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in either English or French; and
- Must meet the low-income threshold as set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) and provide for the cost of living before earning any income.
- The application fee for the primary applicant is $1050 not including the right of Permanent Residence fee ($490)
- Ownership requirements are:
To learn more, visit IRCC's Start-up Visa Program to determine if you are eligible and if the Start-up Visa is right for you.
Contact us today at (403) 452-9515 Ext. 100 or 1-800-932-1190 or email us directly
