Canada’s Start-Up Visa (SUV) program offers lots of opportunities for foreign nationals hoping to immigrate to Canada, reveals the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
By the end of the first 11 months of last year, the SUV program had already helped 555 foreign nationals get their permanent residence in Canada, putting the program on track to welcome a record-breaking 612 new permanent residents to the country by the end of the year.
The previous record number of 515 new permanent residents came to Canada under the SUV in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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As the coronavirus spread across the country in 2020, immigration to Canada plunged due to border closures and international travel restrictions.
That year, the number of new permanent residents to Canada under the SUV also fell precipitously, dropping 49.5 per cent to 260.
With the relaxation of those public health measures in 2021, though, immigration roared back to life and the number of new permanent residents under the SUV rose by 125, or 48.1 per cent, to hit 385.
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The SUV’s popularity with immigrant investors has grown 13.6 times, with the number of new permanent residents annually through the program rising from only 45 in 2015 to a projected 612 last year.
The SUV is a favourite with immigrant entrepreneurs because it offers both the flexibility to start a wide variety of businesses and the opportunity to gain permanent residency in Canada.
Those eligible for the SUV must:
The amount of money an applicant needs to immigrate under the SUV program depends on the number of dependents he or she has.
At the start of 2023, IRCC requirements for those funds were as follows:
Number of | Funds required |
family members | (in Canadian dollars) |
1 | $13,310 |
2 | $16,570 |
3 | $20,371 |
4 | $24,733 |
5 | $28,052 |
6 | $31,638 |
7 | $35,224 |
For each additional family member | $3,586 |
A business is considered to meet the SUV program requirements when:
Applicants for permanent residence through the SUV must live in Canada and be active and provide ongoing management of the business at the time of getting that permanent residence.
They must also be an essential part of the operations of the business which must be incorporated in Canada.
After pitching the business plan to a designated organization, a business group approved by the federal government to invest in or support start-ups, the applicant under the SUV needs to get a letter of support from that organization.
“If you reach an agreement with a designated organization, it will send you a letter of support,” notes the IRCC on its website.
“You need to include this letter when you submit your application to us. This is the proof you need to show that the venture capital fund, angel investor group, or business incubator is supporting your business idea.”
That support can take on the following forms:
At the start of 2023, the venture capital funds from which an immigrant entrepreneur could secure a minimum of $200,000 to qualify for the SUV program were:
Those applicants who prefer to get a minimum investment of $75,000 can do so through these angel investor groups:
The business incubators approved by the federal government for the SUV program as of the start of 2023 were:
Applicants to the SUV program must meet the minimum level of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in either English or French in all of these four areas:
On its website, the IRCC estimated the processing time for SUV applications at 32 months in early 2023. That estimated processing time included the time for the applicant to provide biometrics such as fingerprints and a photo.
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