Can Foreigners start up Non Profits in Canada?

[britcouple]

My partner and I are both British and currently on a 6 month tourist visa in Canada. We love it here and would like to start a non-profit/social enterprise which we have been planning for some time, once our 6 months is over. Could anyone tell me whether this would be feasible?

The closest I have found to an answer so far is the Canadian start up visa but this requires Canadian investors and, as 100% of the business profits will be given to charities (both in Canada and abroad) this doesn't apply to us. We would like to use our own money to start the project, otherwise investors will be seeking a profit which we would not be able to give.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[zardoz]

I'm sorry but from everything I've seen, it would seem that you are not eligible to proceed within any of the categories available within the Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed persons group. It doesn't help that two of the possible categories are on indefinite suspension anyway. (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/index.asp) You *might* have been able to make an attempt at the federal entrepreneur program but it would be a very long shot. The last reported processing time for the London CHC under the federal entrepreneur program was 97 Months!!

 

[britcouple]

Thanks for the reply

That's a shame. Is there no one we can appeal to? We could both probably get jobs here but that's not what we want to do. It just seems ridiculous that someone wanting to start up a business for their own gains would be eligible but someone else who wants to invest their own money, create jobs within Canada, and then use all of the profits to benefit others in and outside of Canada while making no profits themselves would be turned down

Is the start up visa really the only option for people other than skilled workers or are there any other options/loopholes?