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Canada's Start-up Visa

cic.gc.ca

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Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#101

Post by potatolicious »

rapind wrote: post #97
steveklabnik wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand that often, metaphors are useful. However, I think this metaphor is both very poor and in very poor taste. For example, a government program could never experience any of the other effects of sexual assault[1] that are part of what makes rape such a heinous crime. I know that saying 'rape' and feeling like one can hide behind a literary claim may make one feel 'edgy' or whatever, but it just comes across…

Yeah it's bad taste, but I understood it to mean that the program would be taken excessive advantage of. I'm not even sure if it's an attempt at seeming edgy or w/e. Maybe once upon a time it was, but it's become a pretty common saying by now. You're fighting the good fight, but I doubt you'll win. :(

> "but it's become a pretty common saying by now"

And there's a good reason why we need to push back against it. I think we've turned on the corner on this particular use of the word, but nonetheless.

This is the same thing as how people used to (and some still do) call things "faggy" and "gay". It's not cool, it's damaging and hurtful to a large number of people.

If you want to say "the system will be taken advantage of", we have an existing phrase for that. It's "the system will be taken advantage of".

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#102

Post by aren55555 »

randomdata wrote: post #92
scott_karana wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ask yourself this: if you've never heard of startup culture in Canada, what is that indicative of? :) (Saying this sadly, as I'm a Canadian)

The nearly 500 tech startups in Waterloo was pretty big news a year or two ago, even on HN. Startup success seems to be the problem in Canada. I'm not sure I could name a single one of those companies, even after considerable time has passed since that media exposure. It will be interesting to see if bringing in new cultural perspectives can change that.

How about:

Vidyard (http://www.vidyard.com/), Pebble (http://getpebble.com/), BufferBox (https://www.bufferbox.com/), Couple (formerly Pair) (http://couple.me/), or Thalmic Labs (https://www.thalmic.com/myo/)

All the above are also YC alumni.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#103

Post by refurb »

orbitur wrote: post #99
refurb wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> You'll never pay a dime of US taxes, That's not true. You can only get an exclusion on the first $97,000USD you make outside of the US, so YMMV. In Vancouver or Toronto, you'd be pushing it.

Not true. The US and Canada has a tax treaty which means any Canadian taxes you pay count against US taxes owed. In other words, you only have to pay US taxes if your tax liability is lower than what it would be in the US.

Since Canadian income taxes are higher than US income taxes, you'll never have to pay US income taxes (baring some odd financial situation).

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#104

Post by dangerboysteve »

steveklabnik wrote: post #57
dangerboysteve wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

steve,down vote all you like. I could have chosen a better words. I agree. But we have seen the immigration system gamed by lots of people and companies. So having a qualified investors is a good thing. Trust me the Canadian government does not have the resources to look into everything.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#105

Post by jrn »

bishnu wrote: post #24

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

If you are looking for funding in canada, Fundica.com lists grants, loans, equity sources of financing, based on industry and location etc.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#106

Post by randomdata »

aren55555 wrote: post #102
randomdata wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nearly 500 tech startups in Waterloo was pretty big news a year or two ago, even on HN. Startup success seems to be the problem in Canada. I'm not sure I could name a single one of those companies, even after considerable time has passed since that media exposure. It will be interesting to see if bringing in new cultural perspectives can change that.

How about: Vidyard ( http://www.vidyard.com/ ), Pebble ( http://getpebble.com/ ), BufferBox ( https://www.bufferbox.com/ ), Couple (formerly Pair) ( http://couple.me/ ), or Thalmic Labs ( https://www.thalmic.com/myo/ ) All the above are also YC alumni.

Pebble is the only one I've heard of on the list and their website claims they are in Silicon Valley, so I guess that reenforces my point?

Additionally, I think it is quite reasonable to argue that Kickstarter is the source of their success, but Kickstarter is still not yet available to Canadians. Not until later this summer.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#107

Post by potatolicious »

mjn wrote: post #47
untog wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My guess is that's part of the purpose, to use the visas as a carrot to improve deal flow to Canadian angels/VCs. Could also be that they think companies funded by Canadian investors will be less likely to jump ship to the U.S. later, versus if they were funded by a Valley-based firm. (As for why the investors have to be from an approved list? Probably to avoid sham "angel investors" fake-funding their acquaintances,…

> "(As for why the investors have to be from an approved list? Probably to avoid sham "angel investors" fake-funding their acquaintances, or outright selling visas."

This is a valid concern, though I'm worried it will swing the pendulum in the other direction also - that it basically gives non-regulated, non-governmental, non-accountable entities the ability to wield immigration as a stick.

That or allow an existing cabal of VCs to lock out competing, upstart VCs.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#108

Post by steveklabnik »

dangerboysteve wrote: post #104
steveklabnik wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

steve,down vote all you like. I could have chosen a better words. I agree. But we have seen the immigration system gamed by lots of people and companies. So having a qualified investors is a good thing. Trust me the Canadian government does not have the resources to look into everything.

Upvoted, that's great! I'm not saying that the system won't be gamed; I'm saying that using the word 'rape' in this context is inaccurate and of poor taste.

Your point could have been made the first time by just typing "we have seen the immigration system gamed by lots of people and companies. So having a qualified investors is a good thing. Trust me the Canadian government does not have the resources to look into everything." and I'd take zero issue with it.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#109

Post by goatforce5 »

agilebyte wrote: post #54
goatforce5 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

They'd have been doing the French test, presumably. You only have to do one or the other. No point making it hard on yourself, right?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#110

Post by zaatar »

turar wrote: post #65
goatforce5 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Timeline for citizenship is 5-6 years: 3 years of residency, after which you can apply for citizenship, which currently takes additional 2-3 years to get. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/cit-pr...

One key thing to note is that Canadian Citizenship Law does not require the applicant to be present physically on Canadian soil while the application is being processed, nor does it require "proof of intent to live in Canada" for award of Citizenship.

What this means is that in theory, someone could land as a PR one Day 1, file the application exactly 3 years and 1 day later, and then leave Canada and go sit in a hut in Guatemala while the application is being processed. [1] After it is ready for the test/oath in 2-3 years, applicant flies back, declares a desire to live and die in Guatemala, and still gets his Canadian citizenship, a shiny new Canadian passport, and leaves the country. And all this is 100% legal, at least as per Canadian Citizenship Law as of 2013.

[1] Unfortunately, C&IC will only correspond to Canadian addresses, so the applicant does need a reliable mailing address in Canada

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