The Canada investor visa can be obtained by foreign businessmen who can qualify under specific investment requirements. One of the visas one can obtain is a visa for a start-up business; the program is available at a national level and investors should know that, if they are interested in opening a company in Canada in a particular region of the country, they can also obtain visas issued for certain provinces.
For instance, if you want to start a business in Quebec, you can apply for the Quebec investor program; for more details on the regional visas available for business purposes, our team of consultants in company formation in Canada remain at your disposal. Please mind that our team is also qualified to help in the process of setting a local business.
What are the requirements for the start-up visa in Canada?
As mentioned above, one of the ways in which a foreign investor can obtain a Canada visa for business purposes is by investing in a local start-up company. The main requirement to respect in this case it to have an innovative business idea that will create several jobs in Canada.
Another important requirement is that the product or the service that will be created by your startup company has certain qualities that can be it competitive on international markets. If you want to obtain an investment visa in Canada through the startup program, the following must be met:
- the application can be made by maximum 5 investors (this is the maximum number of shareholders the company can have);
- each of the shareholders must hold at least 10% of the company’s shares;
- together, the shareholders’ voting share and the investing organization share has to be of at least 50% of the entire shareholding structure;
- the shareholder must be backed up by an organization that will be ready to invest in the business – one of the approved organizations can be venture capital companies, where the required investment is of $200,000;
- foreign businessmen can also be represented by angel investor groups when applying for the Canada investor visa, and in this case, the investment threshold is of only $75,000.
Please be aware that for this type of investment visa, the Canadian government does not provide any financial support and thus, you will be required to provide sufficient evidence on the entity that will invest in your company, but also that you will be able to sustain yourself and your family while living here. Besides these, you must also have a very good command of the English or French languages, or both. If you need information on the visa application process, please address to our team of specialists in company registration in Canada.
What are the visa options for the Quebec investor program in 2024?
Foreign businessmen who want to open a company in Canada will generally settle in large cities, such as Quebec. For Quebec, foreign investors have the possibility of applying for one of the following: Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), Quebec Entrepreneur Program or the Quebec Self-Employed program.
Those who want to apply for a Quebec investor program have to verify the current conditions, as they can modify from year to year. For instance, the QIIP stream has been paused until 2023, as there is a sufficient intake of investors who have qualified under this program. The good news for 2024 is that the program was reopened starting with 1 January 2024, and the conditions to apply for it have been maintained as presented below.
However, those who want to participate in QIIP stream are generally investors who qualify under a golden visa in Canada, as the program is addressed to person who have a high net worth – it is necessary to have a personal net worth of at least $2 million and to invest at lest $1.2 million in an investment fund that is guaranteed by the Canadian government. The visa application requirements can be verified on the website of the Canadian Government or you can always rely on our consultants in company formation in Canada for advice.
If you are interested in business immigration in the region of Quebec, you must know that for 2023, the authorities in Quebec received 4,300 business immigrants. For 2024, in comparison, the Canadian authorities want to issue more visas for business purposes – the number has been increased to 5,000.
he economic stream accounts for 65% of the entire immigration plan for 2023, and this makes sense as, at a national level, more than 200,000 visas are issued in the economic stream (of the total of more than 450,000 permanent visas). In 2024, the overall number of visas has been increased for more visa streams, reaching a total of 485,000.
French speaking foreigners have good news, as the new immigration plans consider the preservation and the development of the French speaking communities, therefore, more French speaking foreigners will be encouraged to arrive here.
We invite you to address our specialists if you want to know in-depth details concerning a particular business immigration program. Our team can represent you in the formalities with the Canadian authorities and can guide you throughout the entire procedure. We can also help you set up a business in Canada in 2024.
What are the rules on the owner-operator program in Canada?
Another way to acquire an investor visa in Canada is by participating in the owner-operator program, a program through which foreigners can obtain permanent residency. The main characteristics of the program are as follows: the foreigner will purchase an established and operational company in Canada and then he or she will hire himself or herself as an employee of the company, while being the owner of the company as well.
Investors are not limited to purchase companies, they can also start the process of company formation in Canada for their own business, and then hire themselves as an employee of the company, thus receiving the temporary work visa. You are invited to contact our team of consultants, who can help you open a company in Canada and obtain a suitable business visa.