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Canada's Start-up Visa

cic.gc.ca

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Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#51

Post by danielsiders »

cunac wrote: post #44
danielsiders wrote: post #23

I would rather have temporary worker visas for startup employees. Our biggest labor problem has been the difficulty of getting programmers who didn't go to college into the US. We'd move to Canada in a heartbeat if we could get the developers we wanted colocated with us. How about N temporary worker visas/amount of VC funding?

Your complaint is because US based developers are expensive? I hope that you don't think developers in Canada are dime a dozen.

No, I'd like to be able to bring awesome people from Russia, the Czech Republic, Israel, etc who often don't have college degrees. If Canada would let me do that, I'd move my startup to Canada.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#52

Post by rogerchucker »

Let's say an average person has a great idea but to come up with that idea she had to go through a lot of schooling and industry experience. Also she needed to earn enough to have a solid 11-13K bank balance. I have a feeling to attain these objectives that person would have to be in her mid-30s. How does a person at that age naturally adapt to a new country, when all she has experienced and adapted to so far is another culture in another country?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#53

Post by frankcaron »

While this is great in theory, it's likely not going to lead to anything other than one marquee Toronto Star story about the foreign entrepreneur who found success in Canada.

Canadian VCs are far too risk averse and conservative; that's why the uptick of start-ups in all areas of the country, even Toronto's own would-be "Valley" of Liberty Village and the Junction, hasn't fielded much in the ways of success.

Until Toronto VCs start taking more risks and going down the road of helping people experiment (much like YComb itself), I don't see this doing much other than acting as a talking point for why Canada is a good place to live.

(I say this as a Torontonian who has worked almost exclusively for start-ups in the GTA and is now moving to San Fran to work for another one).

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#54

Post by agilebyte »

goatforce5 wrote: post #40
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.

Maybe they were French? (Primarily)

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#55

Post by goatforce5 »

adamgravitis wrote: post #45
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…

The big part is this: you get the equivalent of a green card - Permanent Residency. The Minister's office actually did a lot of research into this thing before launching it, and consciously didn't want to put talented people into the awkward position a lot of H1B holders have when their visas expire and are forced to pack everything up and head home.

...and there's a very clear and easy path to get from Permanent Residency to Citizenship.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#56

Post by jt2190 »

untog wrote: post #35
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.

You would think it would be that simple, but you really need to look at it from the investor's point of view: What is my ROI if invest my money this way instead of that way? More unattractive investments won't help the tech startup community grow.

My suspicion[1] is that the thing that will really fix this is changing the way that investors are taxed on their capital gains and losses.

[1] Been a while since I lived in Canada, but IIRC capital gains and losses are not taxed like they are in the US.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#57

Post by steveklabnik »

dangerboysteve wrote: post #32
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!

Since I downvoted, I'll tell you why: this comment is factually incorrect. It's not possible to have sexual intercourse with a government program, let alone coercive sexual intercourse.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#58

Post by wellboy »

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…

Wouldn't make sense for Canada to give you a visa with an American investor and probably your company registered in the U.S. though, would it?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#59

Post by wellboy »

frankcaron wrote: post #53

While this is great in theory, it's likely not going to lead to anything other than one marquee Toronto Star story about the foreign entrepreneur who found success in Canada. Canadian VCs are far too risk averse and conservative; that's why the uptick of start-ups in all areas of the country, even Toronto's own would-be "Valley" of Liberty Village and the Junction, hasn't fielded much in the ways of success. Until To…

You know they could have not introduced a startup-visa, because they thought they have too little VC.

Instead they said, damn we really want young entrepreneurs to succeed and start a change. We don't have much VC money, but let's freaking execute by introducing a startup visa and that way state an example for the U.S. to follow.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#60

Post by geoka9 »

frankcaron wrote: post #53

While this is great in theory, it's likely not going to lead to anything other than one marquee Toronto Star story about the foreign entrepreneur who found success in Canada. Canadian VCs are far too risk averse and conservative; that's why the uptick of start-ups in all areas of the country, even Toronto's own would-be "Valley" of Liberty Village and the Junction, hasn't fielded much in the ways of success. Until To…

> much like YComb itself

AFAIK, YC doesn't invest anywhere close to $200k; so it's probably not fair to compare.

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