Canadian Immigration Minister announced new changes to the Canada Startup Visa Program.
The new changes will be in effect from 30th April 2024. The changes focus on improving processing times and reducing backlog. This I think is great news for everyone like myself who has already applied and are waiting for their PR, but this isn’t good news for anyone who is planning to apply.
Major implications of these policy changes are
Priority Processing
Priority processing has been announced for selected incubators and startups who invest more than $75,000. Although it’s not clear if investment here mentioned is internal or external. The incubators whose applications will be processed on priority are
- Genesis
- Invest Nova Scotia
- Innovation Factory
- Interactive Niagara Media Cluster
- Invest Ottawa
- North Forge Technology Exchange
- Platform Calgary
- The DMZ
- VIATEC
- Waterloo Accelerator Centre
For a full list of all designated organizations, click here https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/start-visa/designated-organizations.html
Incubator Limits
Incubators are now limited to 10 Startup applications per year. This particular policy makes it extremely difficult for new applicants to enter the Startup Visa Program for Canada. The current list of designated incubators stands at about 43 incubators. This means combined they can only accept 430 applications for the year 2024. As an applicant, you can not apply to all incubators because some focus on specific types of businesses. This means you are basically fighting for limited seats, and incubators will become more picky when it comes to issuing a Letter of Support.
Conclusion
I’m hoping as a Startup Visa applicant that this will help in increasing processing times for Work Permit and PR applications. Currently, the wait time stands at 37 months for Canada Startup Visa Program. One thing is clear that the number of applicants will reduce, and it will become difficult to apply under SUV.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and will let you guys know when my PR process moves ahead.
You can check the official announcement here https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2024/04/changes-to-the-start-up-visa-and-self-employed-persons-programs-to-help-reduce-backlogs-and-improve-processing-times.html