Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
theglobeandmail.com
Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
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Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#2"...and intends to initiate a visa that would be issued to people identified by venture capital funds as candidates to create startup firms in Canada."
Anyone else find this to be an odd way to go about it?
VC firms have distinctly different goals when funding companies than the people actually running the company.
I guess it raises some questions for me:
(1) Is there a floor to how much funding is required? For lack of a better term, does the start-up have to have X numbers of years of runway to qualify? (2) What happens to the entrepreneur if the VC firms decides to turf them? Do they get to stay or are they required to leave the country? (3) Does the entire start-up team get visas? The article mentions how the old e-ship visa has been put on hold. So if a founder gets VC funding, starts the company, but wants to bring in more foreign workers, can they?
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great idea and it is exactly what the US should be doing as well. There are just a lot of unanswered questions for me and I wonder how well it will work in practice.
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#3From what I can tell, this wouldn't help me one bit. I'm an American who would love the opportunity to found a startup in Canada. That means being there from conception to MVP. But it sounds like this plan will only allow a pretty advanced company, one that has gained the interest of VCs, to move there. If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? Furthermore, what of startups that don't require VC money, is it really in Canada's best interest to put out the "Not Welcome" mat for them?
I think the country needs to devise a program that lets the next non-resident Jobs/Woz or Gates/Allen to set up shop in their Canadian garage and get to work without any of this VC-related nonsense here.
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#4A better summary of the article would be "Canada planning to make it harder for entrepreneurs to immigrate".
Otherwise one could think that progress is being made. Whereas it looks like Canada doesn't even want entrepreneurs; instead it wants "hot" companies to move to Canada (see VC requirement and just 2750 visas/year).
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#5From what I can tell, this wouldn't help me one bit. I'm an American who would love the opportunity to found a startup in Canada. That means being there from conception to MVP. But it sounds like this plan will only allow a pretty advanced company, one that has gained the interest of VCs, to move there. If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? Furthermore, what…
"If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? "
Good question. But I'd also ask why, as an American, would you love to found a startup in Canada? What advantage over starting it in the US?
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#6As a Canadian now living in Silicon Valley I think this is a perilous idea.
The main problem is that Canada doesn't have near enough active VC investors.
Hardly anywhere does, even Silicon Valley.
Having them be the sole gatekeepers will fall far short of what's possible.
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#7"...and intends to initiate a visa that would be issued to people identified by venture capital funds as candidates to create startup firms in Canada." Anyone else find this to be an odd way to go about it? VC firms have distinctly different goals when funding companies than the people actually running the company. I guess it raises some questions for me: (1) Is there a floor to how much funding is required? For lack…
Last I looked a few months ago, the minimum investment was $750K CAD. Now it is $800K, with a $1.6MM CAD net worth. Citzenship and Immigration Canada "will return your C$800,000 investment, without interest, about five years and two months after payment." [1] I think it is important to note that their foreign-invested business programs have become backlogged in processing, and have been holding onto the life savings of many Chinese citizens since 2007. [2]
The article hints that small teams will be accepted, but also says "Canada seeks ... immigrants who will contribute to Canada’s job growth", so the number of Canadian employees will be the deciding factor along with the amount generated for the economy.
From my experience with US friends who have Canadian work visas, Canada is strict and will not allow foreigners to remain long without an employee sponsor. It's also difficult to acquire citizenship without several years of residence. I would guess that hiring foreigners will be accepted as long as the investment amount is high, but the likelihood that they will become permanent residents is very low.
[1] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/investors/in...
[2] http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/12/chinese-citizens-dem...
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#8From what I can tell, this wouldn't help me one bit. I'm an American who would love the opportunity to found a startup in Canada. That means being there from conception to MVP. But it sounds like this plan will only allow a pretty advanced company, one that has gained the interest of VCs, to move there. If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? Furthermore, what…
Agreed. I wholeheartedly agree with their fundamental idea, but going the VC route doesn't seem like a good way to do it. By the time you've built up all the connections and steam you need to develop a budding company that a VC would be interested in investing in, your roots are going to be too strong wherever you currently are to be able to move to Canada. I'll be surprised if they get anything more than a handful of companies to relocate.
Also, any time you involve money people, you set the stage for things to get crooked and shady. I can already hear the narrator from some "Inside Job" type documentary on corruption in Canada.
"However, the Canadians didn't account for one major loophole. In 2012, they passed a law allowing startups with venture capital to emigrate into the country, but what they didn't consider was: ___________"
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#9[deleted]
Re: Canada designs new visa for immigrant entrepreneurs
#10As a recent Waterloo grad, 95% of my friends have moved to US (California, Seattle, NY); the problem isn't trying to attract more talent, rather building infrastructure to retain it. Honestly, I love living in Canada, but there are fewer high paying jobs and its much more difficult to get funding for startups.