People, please beware of the following keywords.
'April 1', 'CIC', 'Jason Kenney', 'new program' and 'Canadian permanent residency'
Don't get fooled. Be alert.
Canada looks to poach entrepreneurial immigrants from Silicon Valley
Tobi Cohen, Published: January 24, 2013, 10:23 am
Canada is looking to poach Silicon Valley's intrepid foreign up-and-comers as it launches a “first of its kind in the world” program that will grant immediate permanent residency to qualifying entrepreneurs starting April 1.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Thursday he will head down to America's technology heartland once the program is in place to begin recruiting the “thousands of super bright young foreign nationals,” often from Asia, who are working at technology start-ups on temporary visas and may have to go home before they've been able to obtain their coveted U.S. Green Card.
“We see the bright, young, international tech developers in the U.S. who are stuck on temporary visas as an immediate market, if you will, for this program,” he said.
Kenney said he will “fly the Canadian flag and say to those bright young prospective immigrants, some of whom are going to create massively successful companies in their lifetimes, that they can come to Canada through this program, that they can get permanent residency here, they can have the certainty that this represents and they can start their businesses here in Canada.”
A similar start-up visa for entrepreneurs was introduced in the U.S. nearly two years ago but has been stalled in Congress. Kenney said it's an opportunity for Canada to get ahead of the pack because even countries with similar programs don't offer the perk of immediate permanent residency – a “risk” he's prepared to take even though not all entrepreneurs are successful.
“We don't want to penalize people if they don't succeed on their first start-up, we want to encourage them to make Canada their new home, to contribute in the long-term their human capital to Canada,” he said.
“Canada was built by risk-takers and the future strength of our economy depends on the success of today's entrepreneurs. Just as many of Canada's original entrepreneurs were immigrants, recruiting bright and innovative entrepreneurs from around the world will help Canada retain our global competitive edge.”
The new start-up visa program will effectively replace the entrepreneur stream, a 1970s “relic” that was ultimately shelved in 2011 pending a program review.
Designed to attract the sort of “innovative” entrepreneurs who will “spur economic growth and create jobs,” not simply shopping mall food court kiosk and corner store owners, the revamped program will require newcomers to partner with Canadian venture capitalists before a visa is granted, Kenney said.
As part of the program, entrepreneurs seeking permanent residency will need to present a viable business plan in order to gain the support of an angel investor group or venture capital fund. Canada will require a funding commitment of at least $75,000 from angel investors and $200,000 from venture capitalists. To start, Canada will work with two groups: Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, and the National Angel Capital Organization, which will identify members eligible to participate.
Citizenship and Immigration is also working on a deal with the Canadian Association of Business Incubation to identify members for participation. Venture capital funds, angel investors and business incubators essentially provide seed money and other supports to promising start-up businesses, sometimes for equity or a stake in the company.
Other criteria include an intermediate language proficiency in English or French and at least one year of college or university experience so as not to exclude “the future Bill Gates and Steve Jobs” whom Kenney called “famous software dropouts.”
He expects the application process to take less than six months. He has set aside 2,750 visas a year for the next five years for the program, but expects interest will be slow to start and wouldn't be surprised if just a few hundred apply in the program's early years.
If successful, however, Kenney said, the five-year pilot project could become a permanent part of Canada's larger immigration program.
Kenney also admitted Thursday that there have been serious processing delays with respect to obtaining citizenship and that changes are in the works to speed things up. His comments come following a Toronto Star report that suggests some people are now learning it could be nine years before they get their citizenship. Kenney said that's “ridiculous” but that a new questionnaire aimed at weeding out people who may be faking the three-year residency requirement for citizenship has “prolonged” the process for some.
Another factor contributing to the backlog of citizenship applications, he said, is the fact that Canada is admitting more permanent residents which means, over time, more people are eligible to apply for citizenship and are in fact doing so.
“Second, we're in an environment of fiscal restraint so I wasn't able to add public servants to process the growing number of citizenship applications and consequently we ended up with a backlog,” Kenney added. “But I'm working with my colleagues on resolving that problem.”
http://o.canada.com/2013/01/24/revamped-immigrant-entrepreneur-visa-set-to-go-april-1/
