Amir Soozandehfar, who applied to the Start-up Visa Program five years ago, stated the long wait times and uncertainty have built it difficult to receive investment.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
The Immigration Department has shelved a settlement program for foreign entrepreneurs that has faced accusations of misutilize and has processing times of more than 10 years. The sudden relocate prompted calls for an immediate replacement to prevent innovators from taking their ideas to Europe or the U.S instead.
Ottawa established the Start-up Visa Program in 2013 to boost job creation, but suddenly halted the program in late December, declareing it was subject to misutilize. The government has stated it’s seeing at establishing an alternative with stricter rules for who can participate.
But immigration lawyers have warned that the sudden halting of the program could create more uncertainty and lead to foreign investors choosing Europe or the U.S. They stated it could harm Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ambition to attract global talent to Canada.
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced last month that it would no longer accept fresh applications for the visa program as of Dec. 31, although it will process those already in the system. Last month it also halted programs offering pathways to permanent residence for self-employed foreign nationals, caregivers and skilled refugees with job offers in Canada.
The Start-up Visa Program allowed foreign entrepreneurs to apply for permanent residence here to build companies finishorsed by designated organizations in Canada.
IRCC spokesperson Isabelle Dubois stated the program had produced many successful businesses but had “stopped working as intfinished.”
“The requirements to qualify are fairly low, which has resulted in some designated organizations stretching the program’s goals and rules by supporting lower-quality or even non-genuine start-up proposals,” she stated in an e-mail.
“A new pilot is in development and we’ll be consulting a range of experts in the months ahead as we craft the parameters of the program,” she added. “At this time, no decisions have been built on the future of the program.”
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Immigration lawyer Stephen Green stated when the program was first set up, it was “the envy of the world.”
But he stated curbs on immigration have since led to long wait times, and some foreign entrepreneurs have been seeing elsewhere becautilize of the bureaucratic holdups.
He stated a new replacement program should have been launched on the same day that the startup program was shelved. “They should have a consultation in the next 30 days and come up with a program. It has obtained to be done urgently.”
“We are not the number one place any more for innovation,” stated Mr. Green, a partner at Toronto-based immigration law firm Green and Spiegel, adding that England is among the other countries that have programs to attract entrepreneurs.
Canada, faced with falling public support for more immigration, last year froze the numbers of permanent residents it will admit. Mr. Carney, in his mandate letter to ministers, stated he wanted to restore immigration to sustainable levels but also to attract global talent to Canada.
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Published last November, federal immigration tarreceives for the next three years stated Canada would accept 500 people a year from 2026 to 2028 under the now-shelved Start-up Visa Program and permanent residency program for self-employed foreign nationals.
Applicants to the startup program currently face delays of more than 10 years for their paperwork to be processed, according to IRCC.
Among the applicants who have been waiting for years for their startup visa applications to be processed is Amir Soozandehfar from Iran, who studied biology at a Canadian university and wants to manufacture a hollow-fibre membrane to filter microplastics from water. The Guelph resident, currently working in health care, applied five years ago for permanent residency with other members of his startup team.
But he declares the long wait time and uncertainty has built it impossible to receive startup investment and lease a factory long-term to launch manufacturing.
“Manufacturing startups, like our startup, face unique challenges under IRCC’s delays, with production lines, warehoutilizes and market-enattempt timelines put on hold,” Mr. Soozandehfar stated.
He stated the long processing times have built many foreign entrepreneurs lose hope, with some taking their ideas abroad instead. “Many have left and established successful businesses and created jobs in Europe.”
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Immigration lawyer Yameena Ansari stated some of her clients who want to start companies here complain that Canada does not have a competitive strategy to attract entrepreneurial talent, unlike the U.S.
“The startup and self-employed work permits were the main way that people could set up a business here,” she stated, adding that the Start-up Visa Program had been subject to “mass abutilize” by people who were not genuine entrepreneurs but wanted to utilize the route to settle in Canada.
Ms. Dubois, the IRCC spokesperson, stated that as of Jan. 1, no applications are being accepted for the permanent residency program to support the department tackle the backlog of existing applications.
She warned that “the number of applications that can be finalized each year will remain low.” Entrepreneurs already in Canada would be able to extfinish work permits linked to a startup visa while they wait for their applications to be processed.
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