The Start-Up Business Class began as a five-year pilot
program targeting foreign entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build
businesses in Canada that: (a) were innovative, (b) could create jobs for
Canadians, and (c) could compete on a global scale.  Entrepreneurs seeking permanent residence
under the Start-Up Business Class were not required to personally invest any
capital in the proposed business. 

Despite the relatively small number of cases processed
during its initial five-year period, the Government of Canada considered the
pilot program to be a success.  On July
18, 2017, IRCC announced its intention to establish a permanent Start-Up
Business Class once the pilot program expired on March 31, 2018.  The final regulations for the permanent
Start-Up Business Class became effective on April 11, 2018.

I am pleased to have played a small role in the creation of
Canada’s Start-Up Business Class.  Near the
end of 2011, I first raised the idea of a start-up visa with Mr. Jason Kenney,
during a fundraiser for a local political candidate.  Mr. Kenny is currently the Premier of Alberta
but, at the time, he was Canada’s Federal Minister of Citizenship, Immigration
and Multiculturalism. 

Earlier that year, the StartUp
Visa Act of 2011 was introduced in the United States Congress.  During my discussion with Mr. Kenny, I
mentioned the proposed bill.  I also
explained that, since it was unlikely to become law in the United States,
Canada could attract entrepreneurs who might otherwise be destined for the
United States by establishing a start-up visa program of its own. 

Mr. Kenney initially believed that a start-up visa program
would simply be a variation of the existing Entrepreneur Class (which was
ultimately terminated 2013).  However, I
explained that a start-up visa program would differ from existing investor and
entrepreneur options to the extent that the entrepreneur would not need to be
the source of investment capital.  Such a
program would enable foreign entrepreneurs who established start-up businesses
using capital contributed by third parties, such as venture capital firms or
angel investors, to seek permanent residence in Canada.  By the end of our discussion, he warmed up to
the idea of a start-up visa program. 

On April 18, 2012, Mr. Kenney announced public consultations
on the possible creation of a new program to attract immigrant
entrepreneurs.  On January 24, 2013, he announced
that the Government of Canada would launch a start-up visa program to recruit
innovative immigrant entrepreneurs who would create new jobs and spur economic
growth.  On March 30, 2013, Citizenship
and Immigration Canada published Ministerial Instructions in the Canada
Gazette, which formally established the new Start-Up Business Class. 

Read Henry J. Chang’s full article on the Start-Up Business
Class here.

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