Canada's Start-up Visa • Hacker News Board

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#31

Post by mjn » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:30 PM UTC

enry_straker wrote: post #28

mjn wrote: post #16

Summary of the conditions: - Secure $75k in angel funding or $200k in venture funding, from a list of designated Canadian funders. - Score relatively highly on a language test in either English or French, for both verbal and written ability (note that everyone must take this test, even those coming from English- or French-speaking countries). - Have satisfactorily completed at least one year of higher education (no d…

It's canadian dollars, right?

I assume so, but the current exchange rate is 1.00 USD = 1.03 CAD, so it's more or less the same either way.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#32

Post by dangerboysteve » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:32 PM UTC

ramanujam wrote: post #14

The bad part: The investment has to come from a canadian VC or angel firm. It doesn't clearly state if it is a requirement though [1]. The good part: As many have already mentioned, it is a permanent residency status and not just a temporary visa. It comes along with all the health care benefits and social benefits as what Canadian citizens get [2]. So even if your first business fails, you will have the opportunity…

Well if it does not the system would be completely raped!

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#33

Post by mjhea0 » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:32 PM UTC

i'd like to hear more about the startups that have made the move from the us to canada. from my perspective, this seems great for startups looking to get into the us market by making a stop in canada, growing, and then attracting us investors.

it will be interesting to see the long-term affects this has. will startups stay?

also, i would love to see an article about the canada startup community in general. canada's economy is well-balanced and from what i can tell pretty risk-adverse. how well people respond to the influx of startups that must take risks, gamble, and move quickly in order to survive?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#34

Post by Zikes » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:33 PM UTC

galactus wrote: post #26

The canadian "citizen and immigration" service is seriously understaffed (thanks, Mr. Harper!). Some consequences of this: * It currently takes more than two years in average to process a citizenship request. * The CIC stopped accepting any new application from canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their parents or grandparents for permanent residency. So, this all sounds good in paper, but Im skeptical…

Since this is permanent residency and not citizenship, shouldn't it be a fair amount less effort and paperwork on immigration's part?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#35

Post by untog » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:34 PM UTC

bishnu wrote: post #24

The conditional on Canadian funding thing is killer. There is so little VC in Canada.

Well, I suppose this is a two way street. Hopefully something like this would kick-start Canadian VC funding, as they'll have a lot of very qualified international applicants knocking down their doors.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#36

Post by untog » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:36 PM UTC

Theoretically this is fantastic. I'm in the US on an H1B visa and there's no clear path for me to be able to start my own company. My visa still has a couple of years left on it, but this is something I will be watching closely.

Of course, the US could implement a similar program in a heartbeat. And by "in a heartbeat", I mean "never, because the government in this country is utterly dysfunctional".

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#37

Post by refurb » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:37 PM UTC

mjhea0 wrote: post #30

i know that business taxes are relatively low, but what about personal incomes taxes? how will this affect having to pay double taxes (both us and canada). i believe you can write off the taxes you pay overseas, but you have to pay the difference in us taxes.

You'll never pay a dime of US taxes, since Canada has a tax treaty with the US and income taxes in Canada are higher than those in the US. Also, Canada has higher gasoline and alcohol taxes and double digit sales taxes in most provinces. Also, tax deferred retirement plans have lower limits than the US.

That said, healthcare costs are minimal in Canada, which are a huge plus for entrepreneurs who may not always have a steady income stream.

That said, if you're moving from a high tax US state (CA) to a low taxes Canadian province (Alberta), the difference isn't that great.

Keep in mind that if you have a Roth IRA in the US, it gets complicated. Canada doesn't recognize Roth IRAs thus there are tax complications.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#38

Post by d0gsbody » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:38 PM UTC

bishnu wrote: post #24

The conditional on Canadian funding thing is killer. There is so little VC in Canada.

I bet there will be more now.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#39

Post by mjn » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:39 PM UTC

petercooper wrote: post #13

proof of having completed at least one year of post-secondary education Seems oddly arbitrary. Most visas with educational requirements go for the complete degree, not just one year of education. All the tales of "drop outs" who make it big force their hand? :-)

It might be a streamlined way of applying some of the existing criteria from the skilled-migration points system.

The existing points system gives you the majority of the education points (15/25) if you have a "Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma for a one-year program" or something that you've gotten certified as the foreign equivalent (19 points for a 2-year degree, 21 points for a regular 3-year bachelors, etc.). I wonder if this is just intended to set the threshold at 15/25 but ease up the requirement a bit by allowing you to count 1 year out of any degree program as equivalent to a Canadian 1-year diploma, since many countries don't have actual 1-year diplomas.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#40

Post by goatforce5 » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 3:39 PM UTC

mjn wrote: post #16

Summary of the conditions: - Secure $75k in angel funding or $200k in venture funding, from a list of designated Canadian funders. - Score relatively highly on a language test in either English or French, for both verbal and written ability (note that everyone must take this test, even those coming from English- or French-speaking countries). - Have satisfactorily completed at least one year of higher education (no d…

I had to do the English test as part of my Canadian permanent residency and it was oddly terrifying. English is my first (and only) language.

Luckily it turns out I can speak the English reel gud. I now have a certificate to prove it!

There were other people in my test group who couldn't follow basic instructions that were given out before the test ("Please wait over there", etc.). I imagine they didn't do so well.