Canada's new Startup Visa Program

[Azure]

Verge with another great article about US immigration, and they bring up the new program up here that is launching April 1.

Last week, the Canadian government unveiled new details about its Start-Up Visa Program — a pilot initiative designed to lure immigrant entrepreneurs and investors with the promise of permanent residency.

When the program launches on April 1st, entrepreneurs meeting certain language and educational requirements will be able to easily gain permanent resident status, as long as they’ve obtained an as-yet unspecified minimum amount of funding from a Canadian venture capital fund, angel investor, or business incubator. The government will work directly with these firms to first identify promising candidates, before clearing them for entry within the span of a few weeks.

Both Chile and the UK have taken a similar approach to foreign entrepreneurship, but Canada’s program is bolder than most. Unlike other initiatives, Canada’s startup visa offers permanent and unconditional residency right off the bat, providing entrepreneurs with a comparatively straightforward path to citizenship.

The hope, according to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, is that this streamlined approach will "make Canada the destination of choice for the world's best and brightest" entrepreneurs, while breathing new life into the Canadian tech sector as a whole.

The gradual decline of Waterloo-based BlackBerry has left something of a power vacuum at the center of Canada’s tech industry, but it’s also created opportunities for new companies to flower in major cities like Vancouver and Toronto, as well as emerging outposts in Ottawa and Halifax. And although Canadian entrepreneurs like Cinemagram founder Temo Chalasani continue to leave their country for the glamour and riches of Silicon Valley, officials say an injection of foreign talent could be enough to lure them back home.

Yuri Navarro, Executive Director of the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), says the complexities of US immigration played a direct role in Canada’s decision to open its doors.

"The government has been clear that they see it as an opportunity," said Navarro, whose organization is one of three trade groups collaborating with the government to implement its initiative. "And it’s one that was created by the inability of the US to pass anything like this."

Kenney took on a notably more assertive tone at Thursday’s press conference, telling reporters that the startup visa would take direct aim at Silicon Valley.

"When this thing gets launched, I plan to go down to Silicon Valley with some of the industry associations here and fly the Canadian flag," Kenney said.

It’s far too soon to say whether Canada’s strategy will pay dividends; the program hasn’t even begun its five-year pilot run, and officials expect to issue only a few hundred startup visas in its first year. But the country’s bold approach has suddenly put US immigration policy in even harsher relief, raising an important question: will American lawmakers’ newfound enthusiasm for immigration reform actually result in a more welcoming environment for foreign entrepreneurs?

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/30/39...eform-congress

[Phanuthier]

I bet a lot of people will use this program to get easier entry requirements into the USA. I know at least 2 people who went to Canada first to get their perm res so they could get to the USA easier.

I hope it works though... I think unlike a lot of my peers, I would like to leave California one day... would love to go to Vancouver, but both Vancouver and Markam area are void of the jobs I do.

[Nufy]

I wonder if they could combine the Reality show about border services with the Dragons Den...

I would pay to see Kevin O'Leary interview some of these people...

[Phanuthier]

Relevant reading:

http://www.quora.com/Silicon-Valley/...ficult-to-copy

Why has Silicon Valley proven difficult to copy?

Factors mentioned so far:

Unique history
Government spending
Talent concentration
Universities
Weather
Mature financial sector
Culture
Positive feedback
Old world established order

http://www.quora.com/Silicon-Valley/...till-THE-place

Is Silicon Valley still THE place?

Yes, it is still the place.

Yes there are more startups than anywhere else, so there are more investors, more potential employees, more partners, more events, more of everything. That is what makes it what it is.
Yes it is hard to stand out, but standing out is a problem no matter where you are. You aren't trying to stand out at a cocktail party. You are trying to stand out with your users. All your users care about is whether you are building something they want. They probably don't even know where you are headquartered.
Office space has gone up in price but is still widely available. Only downtown Palo Alto has a critical shortage.
Yes there are a lot of startup CEOs here, in the same way there are a lot of dollars in Warren Buffet's pocket. You might not feel unique, but are you more interested in feeling unique, or are you more interested in building a successful business?

But is it the right place for your company? I don't know. A few things to consider:
Where do you want to live? Presumably you are building a company to build yourself a better life, and where you live is a big part of your life. Where are your family and friends? What are your hobbies? Don't move if you won't be happy. Being successful in business and miserable in life is pointless.
How long do you want to do this? If you want a long career in startups, you want to be in a hub. If you just want to do this one startup, maybe not.
How many employees do you need? If you want to build a 10-person company you can do it anywhere. If you want to hire several thousand people like Facebook or Google did, you'll need to be in a major startup hub.
Where are your partners and potential acquirers? Being close to them is a major advantage.
If you are a B2B company, where are your customers? You will want to be close to them, especially the larger ones and ones you want to work with when you are doing customer discovery.
Do you need to raise a lot of money? If so you want to be near investors. If you are starting a lifestyle business or a professional services business, being near investors is less important.
Is your company unique? If you are starting a "me too" company it is true you'll have trouble standing out in Silicon Valley, but you'll have trouble succeeding anywhere anyway.

[yads]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I bet a lot of people will use this program to get easier entry requirements into the USA. I know at least 2 people who went to Canada first to get their perm res so they could get to the USA easier.

I hope it works though... I think unlike a lot of my peers, I would like to leave California one day... would love to go to Vancouver, but both Vancouver and Markam area are void of the jobs I do.

Which is what?

[c.t.ner]

As much as I'm not a fan of the Harper Government, they are doing some strong things to help boost the growing Tech economy in Canada. A start-up visa is a really good program and I think it'll go a long way in helping to build a better industry.

Yuri Navarro, Executive Director of the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), says the complexities of US immigration played a direct role in Canada’s decision to open its doors.

This statement here is pretty much why I think this is a good idea. Everyone knows that the US hubs San Fran, Austin, Boston and Washington are the places to be, but if you're a young start-up you've got to get the attention of some heavy weight Angel Investors/VCs to get a foot in the door to start the Immigration process for the US. That itself can be time consuming and soul crushing. If anyone is curious, about what it's like to get into the US as a Canadian involved in a start-up you might want to check out this post:

http://maplebutter.com/how-to-get-yo...%80%99s-story/

In regards to the allure of the US and Silicon Valley, I don't think it's a good idea to try and compete at the level. If Canada is being honest nobody in the world can compete with Silicon Valley. It's also not the end of the world when a big tech company moves to the US to get bigger exposure, most of the time the people that were apart of that company stay in Canada and branch off to form other smaller start-ups and that helps the community grows. It happens in Calgary all the time (most recently I can think of the people who worked at Veer, who are now starting up pretty successful local out fits) So while on the top level it seams as though the brain drain to the US can be a disadvantage, I'd rather see the Canadian Government work to try and retain talent that would rather stay. A policy like this only further strengthens Canada's ability to attract new talent.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by yads

Which is what?

Sorry?

[yads]

What kind of jobs do you do?

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by yads

What kind of jobs do you do?

Oh, ha. I'm a analog circuit designer. I don't know how many people know what that is though.

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Oh, ha. I'm a analog circuit designer. I don't know how many people know what that is though.

My tech Diploma is actually in Electronics Eng. Technology.

I didn't touch anything above 24 VDC till I moved to Alberta in 95.

Still helps me a lot in my current profession.

[Azure]

People still use analog?

That is how much I know.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Azure

People still use analog?

That is how much I know.

Ha. I can tell you because of digital, analog has been growing. Digital needs phase locked loops, they need converters, they need power management units, they need equalizers. Hell is digital is fast enough, its pretty much an analog waveform.