Start-up visa (SUV) is the most prominent business visa for Canada. It is facilitated by foreign entrepreneurs with unique business ideas and who are sponsored by venture capitalist, angle investors or business incubators. Entrepreneurs having innovative businesses as well as established start-ups might benefit from this program to obtain permanent residency (PR) in Canada. Through this scheme, up to five founding members of a start-up can be granted Canadian residence status.

1. START-UP VISA CANADA | Lebiz Canada
Start-up visa (SUV) is the most prominent business visa for Canada. It is facilitated by foreign
entrepreneurs with unique business ideas and who are sponsored by venture capitalist,
angle investors or business incubators. Entrepreneurs having innovative businesses as well
as established start-ups might benefit from this program to obtain permanent residency
(PR) in Canada. Through this scheme, up to five founding members of a start-up can be
granted Canadian residence status.
As of 2021, ease of doing business in Canada ranked 23rd worldwide. The highest score were
obtained in starting the business, trading across the borders and paying taxes.
Canada is the major hub in the search of new entrepreneurs who can generate employment
for its citizens and can boost Canadian economy. Start-Up Visa was initially an experimental
program for three years until it was made permanent on March 31 in 2018.
Eligibility Requirements:
There are four certain essential requirements that applicants must satisfy to be qualified to
apply for a Start-up Visa and that deduce whether they have a qualifying business under this
SUV program:
 HAVING A QUALIFYING BUSINESS PLAN
 Each candidate must be entitled to 10% or more voting rights that are linked
to all the shared outstanding in the corporation.

2.  The applicant and the designated entity together should hold greater than
50% of the voting rights attached to each share of the company that were
outstanding at the time.
 LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM DESIGINATED ORGANISATIONS
 Foreign entrepreneurs or business owners who are not familiar with the
country must ensure that they have a solid backing from one of the
designated Canadian organizations.
 They must get a letter of support or investment commitment from an
authorized group to invest in or support their start-up in Canada.
 There are three different groups of Designated Organizations.
> VENTURE CAPITALIST FUNDERS
> ANGLE INVESTOR GROUPS
> BUSINESS INCUBATORS
 LOW-LEVEL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
All the applicants for the Start-Up visa must meet the basic eligibility of language test
at least in one of the major speaking languages in Canada; English or French. They all
must take a language test (IELTS/CELPIP/TEF/TCF) from an approved agency and
must meet the minimum level of CLB 5 (Canadian Language benchmark).
 PROOF OF FUNDS
 Canadian government does not provide any financial support to the new
Start-up visa newcomer.
 Each applicant is must to show sufficient capital to support their business and
sustain themselves and their dependents after arriving in Canada.
 Depending on the size of the applicant’s family, this amount can be ranged
between $13,310 to $35,224.
Advantages and disadvantages of star-up visa :
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

3.  No Canadian job offer is required
 Direct way to attain a permanent
residency (PR) of Canada.
 No need to show capital investment.
 There are no limitations on business
activities within Canada.
 Allow upto 5 stakeholders of a start
up to attain PR of Canada.
 Minimum of CLB 5 is required for the
process.
 Open for all the nationalities
 Convenience to migrate to Canada on
a work permit while your Permanent
residency application is being
processed.
 Low corporate tax i.e. 15% in
comparison to many other countries.
 It’s a lengthy process. Might take 2+
years for obtaining a permanent
residency.
 A high level of competition to get
support from the designated
organizations in Canada that is why it
may be difficult to obtain this
support.
 Sometimes it might require huge
capital investment to secure the
support from the designated
organizations.
 A detailed well – developed, strategic,
feasible and scalable business plan
describing your business model and
ascending growth.
 Interdependency among all the
partners
How to apply for Canada Start-Up visa:
In order to apply for a Canadian Start-up Visa Program, you must follow the instructions in
the following steps:
 Candidates need to present their business model to the designated organizations like
angle investors or business incubators or a venture capitalist and make assure to get
an investment commitment from them.
 Upon approval from any of the designated authorities, obtain a ‘Letter Of Support’
from them.
 Apply for your permanent residency and Work permit along with the letter of
support.
 If you pass your medical exam, Final stamped visa will be issued to you and your
spouse and to your children under the age of 22 years.
 Arrive in Canada and start running your business.
 After completing 3 years in Canada, you are eligible to apply for a Canadian
citizenship (Optional).
Processing Time for SUV:
The standard processing time for the Start-Up Visa (SUV) program can be between from 12
months to 20 months after the candidate submit their application. But, again this is totally
depending on the backlog of IRCC.

4. Canada is not refusing or rejecting any applications in progress. Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, and the lack of documents, Canada is giving the applicant’s a tat of 90 days to
complete their application scientifically including their documents, biometrics or medical
exam.
As of today, the current processing timeline is around 32 months. You can check the current
timeline status from the official IRCC Website.
How can Lebiz help you with this :
While the immigration process can often be complicated and challenging for entrepreneurs
looking to start a business or new-setup in Canada, the highly experienced Financial experts
& Business Consultant and team at Lebiz Canada can help you navigate this process and
evaluate why the Start-Up Visa program may be the best option according to your profile.
We’re #1 Business consultant in India. Our team do the complete hand-holding and provide
the entire ecosystem throughout the process and also able to help you connect with
prospective investment companies for assistance and also to ensure that you have
completed your application in accordance with the eligibility requirements.