Start-Up Visa Program
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Canada is a country with a robust economy, which is why entrepreneurs across the world desire to start their business in Canada. Entrepreneurial candidates can apply for the Canada Start-Up Visa (SUV) program which only costs about CAN $2,385.
Through the SUV program, they can move to Canada and start their own business. In order to establish their start-up businesses, these entrepreneurs will be connected to Canadian investors through the SUV program.
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Canada Start-Up Visa (SUV) program
The Start-Up Visa program is a popular residency program that allows qualified entrepreneurs to gain permanent residence in Canada.
Canada is always looking for skillful entrepreneurs who are interested in starting their own businesses in Canada. For such candidates, Canada offers the Start-Up Visa program. It provides a pathway for entrepreneurs qualified to be permanent residents of Canada.
An immigrant entrepreneur is required to show that their company is innovative. Moreover, the business should be able to create more jobs for Canadians and compete on the international scale.
Canada Start-Up Visa Requirements
The four basic requirements that Start-Up Visa Canada program lists out are:
- having a qualifying business
- getting a letter of support from a designated organization
- meeting necessary language requirements
- showing required money for you and your family
1. Qualifying Business
To be eligible for the SUV program, candidates must have created a business that meets the given criteria:
- When you get a commitment from a designated organization
- a. each applicant should have 10% or more of voting rights to all shares of the corporation (up to 5 people can be owners)
- b. applicants and designated organization jointly hold more than 50% of total voting rights
When receiving PR
- provide active management of the business from inside Canada
- essential part of the business must be corporate in Canada
- business should be incorporated in Canada
2. Letter of Support from a Designated Organization
The candidate needs a letter of support from a designated organization. A designated organization is a business group that’s approved to invest in a business. They can also invest in possible start-ups.
To get a letter of support, the candidate needs to:
- get in contact with a designated organization and see it works in order to get its support
- convince the organization that the business ideas is worth supporting
- if they like the business idea, you will receive a letter of support from the designated organization
3. Language Proficiency
To be eligible for the Start-Up Visa program of Canada, you must meet the language requirements as well.
The candidate must score at least CLB Level 5 in either English or French. The language test consists of four areas, which are:
- Speaking
- Writing
- Reading
- Listening
For English, take one of these:
- IELTS– International English Language Testing System
- CELPIP– Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program
- PTE– Pearson Test of English
For French, take one of these test:
- TEF Canada– Test d’évaluation de français
- TCF Canada– Test de connaissance du français
4. Bring enough money
Since the Government of Canada does not provide financial assistance to start-up visa applicants, they must show that they have enough funds to support themselves.
At the time of applying through the SUV, the candidate must show enough money to not only support themselves but also their dependents coming to Canada with them.
| NO. OF FAMILY MEMBERS | AMOUNT OF FUNDS REQUIRED |
|---|---|
| 1 | $13,757(Approx. INR 8,50,000) |
| 2 | $17,127(Approx. INR 10,58,000) |
| 3 | $21,055(Approx. INR 13,00,000) |
| 4 | $25,564(Approx. INR 15,79,000) |
| 5 | $28,994(Approx. INR 17,90,000) |
| 6 | $32,700(Approx. INR 20,19,000) |
| 7 | $36,407(Approx. INR 22,48,000) |
| More than 7+, for each member | $3,706(Approx. INR 2,29,000) |
Designated Organizations for Start-Up Visa
A designated organization is a business group approved to support a business or start-up by investing in them. To be eligible for SUV, you must get support from at least one of these organizations:
- Venture Capital Funds
- Business Incubators
- Angel Investor Groups
List of Designated Organizations
Venture Capital Funds (Prioritized Processing)
If you want your start-up visa application to be eligible, at least one of the following groups should make an investment of about $200,000 in your business:
- 7 Gate Ventures
- Alt Ventures
- Amplitude Ventures Inc.
- York Entrepreneurship Development Institute (YEDI) VC Fund
- Apex Innovative Investments Ventures
- Arete Pacific Tech Ventures (VCC) Corp
- BCF Ventures
- BDC Venture Capital
- Extreme Venture Partners LLP
- Golden Venture Partners Fund, LP
- INP Capital
- iNovia Capital Inc.
- Intrinsic Venture Capital
- Lumira Ventures
- Invest Nova Scotia
- PRIVEQ Capital Funds
- Real Ventures
- Red Leaf Capital Corp
- Relay Ventures
- Tangentia Ventures
- Top Renergy Inc.
- Vanedge Capital Limited Partnership
- Version One Ventures
- WhiteHaven Venture
- Westcap Management Ltd.
- Yaletown Venture Partners Inc.
Angel Investor Groups (Prioritized Processing)
The candidate must get a minimum of $75,000 from one or more of these investor groups:
- Canadian International Angel Investors
- Ekagrata Inc.
- Golden Triangle Angel Network
- Keiretsu Forum Canada
- VANTEC Angel Network Inc.
- York Angel Investors Inc.
Business Incubators
The candidate must be accepted in at least one of these programs:
- Alacrity Foundation
- Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
a. Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator
b. Food Processing Development Centre - Alberta IoT Association
- Altitude Accelerator
- Bhive
- Biomedical Commercialization Canada Inc. (operating as Manitoba Technology Accelerator)
- Brilliant Catalyst
- DMZ Ventures
- Empowered Startups Ltd.
- Extreme Innovations
- Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre
- Genesis (Prioritized Processing)
- Highline BETA Inc.
- Invest Nova Scotia (Prioritized Processing)
- Innovate Calgary
- Innovation Cluster – Peterborough and the Kawarthas
- Innovation Factory (Prioritized Processing)
- Interactive Niagara Media Cluster o/a Innovate Niagara (Prioritized Processing)
- Intrinsic Innovations
- Invest Ottawa (Prioritized Processing)
- ISM Arts & Culture Ltd
- Knowledge Park o/a Planet Hatch
- Global Startups Accelerator
- Launch Academy – Vancouver
- LaunchPad PEI Inc.
- Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship
- NEXT Canada
- Niagara Business & Innovation Fund
- North Forge East Ltd.
- North Forge Technology Exchange (Prioritized Processing)
- Pacific Technology Ventures
- Platform Calgary (Prioritized Processing)
- Pycap
- Real Investment Fund III L.P. o/a FounderFuel
- Red Leaf Capital Corp
- Roseview Global Incubator
- Spark Commercialization and Innovation Centre
- Spring Activator
- The DMZ (Prioritized Processing)
- Think8 Global Institute
- TiE Toronto
- Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC)
- Treefrog
- TSRV Canada Inc. (operating as Techstars Canada)
- University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Hatchery
- ventureLAB Innovation Centre (Prioritized Processing)
- VIATEC (Prioritized Processing)
- Waterloo Accelerator Centre (Prioritized Processing)
- York Entrepreneurship Development Institute
- YSpace (York University)
How to apply for a Start-Up Visa Canada?
To apply for a Start-Up Visa, follow these steps:
- You can sign-in or create a PR portal account
- Fill out digital and PDF forms online
- Pay the application fees
- At the time of submitting the application, you need to pay the biometrics fee as well
When applying for a Start-Up visa Canada, you should consider taking an expert’s help because they can guide you in this process or make sure to know the things about Start-up visa.
There are a lot of Canadian visa consultants in Delhi, but if candidates are looking for an expert, Talent Connected Worldwide would be the best option for them. We have mastery in guiding our clients to move to Canada with ease.
Whether it’s about permanent residency, study permit, or work visa, leave the work to us!
SUV Processing Time & Cost
A start-up visa application processing time is about 37 months. The time it takes to give biometrics is included in this processing time. This processing time is according to the Government of Canada.
A start-up visa application processing fee is $1,810. Along with it, the right of permanent residence fee is $575.
Altogether, the fee for a start-up visa is $2,385.
Start-Up Visa Canada (Work Permit)
While you are waiting for your PR to be processed, you can still work in Canada by opting for a work permit! This work permit is optional for individuals who are eager to start their business in Canada while their start-up visa application is in process.
Individuals who will opt for this work permit, will only be able to work on the development of their business as an entrepreneur. Moreover, this work permit is valid for just a year, basically the time under which your PR application can be processed.
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