Ask YC: Immigration (wrt entrepreneurs) conditions in Canada?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=439868

by rguzman • 18 years ago

14 18 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

As far as I know Canada has an open immigration policy for educated workers (>= college degree).

Does anybody know how the immigration process works if one is trying to start a company? ie Is it viable for a non-Canadian citizen to start a company? Has anyone tried this?

cfraenkel• 18 years ago

The two (immigration / starting a business) don't have much to do with each other. Immigration is fairly easy if you have a technical education & are fluent in either english or french, but be prepared to wait. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp and take the self assessment at the bottom to see if you have enough points. (that's pretty much all they use to decide)

Immigration as an investor is a little different. This may apply to you, though Canada's definition of an entrepreneur is someone who will bring in C$300K into the country. You then have to operate a business that employs people. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/entrepreneur... for more info.

If you qualify on points, there's not much point in tying up your money, but this might get you quicker processing.

When we got our permanent resident status 4 yrs ago, the process took almost 3 years. ymmv.

Starting a business is similar to the US, though overall paperwork seems to be lower. There aren't as many options in corporate structure as in the US - but a sole proprietership or partnership can be set up in a couple days. Labor laws are definitely stronger here (in the employee's benefit). Health care is obviously cheaper. Definitely talk to a lawyer first.

Good luck.

rguzman4• 18 years ago

Thanks for the info. A couple of followups:

- Is there restriction on company ownership based on immigration status? Say, I had enough points and started the process. Do you know what needs to happen before I can incorporate?

- You mean the time in between your application for permanent residency and when you actually moved was around 3 years?

yarek3• 18 years ago

WRT ownership: not normally, no, unless you're starting a business that requires security clearance with the government.

(Any advice given is a well-grounded conjecture. Please consult a business lawyer!)

jwilliams2• 18 years ago

Good post...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a few other things (from my own research / friends who've migrated):

I think the key to remember is that skilled migration in Canada isn't contingent on having a job (which is the case in many other countries) - it's not far off permanent residence. This is quite important if you want to startup, and one of the reasons I was curious about Canada.

Also, the Canadian point system isn't as biased against age as many countries. The maximum points for age is a very wide band.

As for starting a business, I couldn't see any impediment - even so, in many cases it might be just as easy to incorporate a company in the US (e.g. a Delaware Co).

rguzman4• 18 years ago

I think the key to remember is that skilled migration in Canada isn't contingent on having a job (which is the case in many other countries)

That is exactly why I'm asking. The key, indeed. ;-)

jwilliams2• 18 years ago

Just out of curiousity - if you were to relocate to CA, where would you go?

rguzman4• 18 years ago

I would aim to go, in this order, to Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.

lpgauth• 18 years ago

Tu es le bienvenue à Montréal! You're welcome in Montreal!

varaon• 18 years ago

Ottawa has a strong developer and startup community.

yarek3• 18 years ago

Toronto is the center of the business world in Canada, and most major companies are based there. It's a sprawling metropolis, reminds me of silicon valley: Between Hamilton and Oshawa it feels like a single continous city. Toroto has lots of ethnic flavour, and strong communities, and its share of big city problems. It's close to the US border -- crossing US borders at the airport is a breeze since all US border guards are well versed in the business travel routine. In fact, most likely most business dealings from Toronto to anywhere in US is probably better/easier than anywhere else in Canada.

Vancouver is on the west coast, and influenced by the mindset frequently found in US west-coast states and cities (Seattle and SF in particular). Its own mindset is somewhere between SF and Toronto.

Ottawa has strong software community, but it's not nearly as big as the above cities (it's located 2 hrs driving from Montreal, and 4 hrs from Toronto). It's got a heavy load of federal government agencies and money.

Montreal is more affordable than Toronto or Vancouver. In my opinion, it's one of the best places to live in Canada, though being located in a francophone province with a strong independent (some say chauvinist) streak, may add extra hassle for you as a business owner (due to legal language requirements, etc). Anglophones in Montreal have a love/hate relationship with the city/province -- all rooted in history and politics. But, guaranteed, if you embrace the experience living in this de-facto bilingual city, you won't regret living there.

mikeyur2• 18 years ago

West coast ftw.

Toronto and Vancouver are definitely more business oriented than Montreal for sure, in that order - Toronto > Vancouver > Montreal.

Vancouver is pretty nice, there's quite a bit to do. If you don't like wet weather than you may want to avoid Vancouver. Rains quite a bit here (think Seattle). One thing Vancouver has that (I think) is better than Montreal or Toronto is that it never gets extremely hot or extremely cold here. In the summer you're lucky if it hits 30C and in the winter we usually hover around -5C to 10C - unless you get a cold snap like we had a few weeks ago when it was around -15C.

Avoid anywhere between Vancouver and Toronto. The prairies suck - avoid at all costs.

Not sure about immigration but from the amount of immigrants in Canada I assume it can't be that hard. Starting a business is extremely simple - I helped a friend go through all the steps and it literally took a day to get the paperwork sorted (not even) and submit it for a sole proprietorship.

I'd lean towards Toronto a bit if you're looking for other startups and entrepreneurs. They're here in Vancouver, but nowhere near as many as the east coast.

(side note: if any vancouver HN peeps are having a meetup or want to plan one, let me know)

st3fan• 18 years ago

This is probably not super relevant for your situation but you might find it interesting anyway :-)

I'm Dutch and I went through a family class immigration to Canada. My (canadian) wife and I moved from Amsterdam to Toronto last year in may. I'm a permanent resident now.

Family class is by far the easiest way. We did the paperwork ourselves without help from a lawyer. We simply did research online and listened to people who had gone through the same procedure.

I think the time between the first paperwork and me getting on the plane was about 10 months. We made one mistake on the forms which probably delayed the process by a month.

In Holland I was self employed and I'm doing the same here in Toronto. Being a permanent resident gives you the same opportunities as citizens.

Setting up your business here is so easy compared to Holland. I'm now a sole proprietorship but plan to incorporate later this year.

Canada is great. I love it here :-)

anthony_barker• 18 years ago

Corporate taxes are in general becoming lower than the US.

Alberta is a good place to incorporate as any.

http://www.albertacanada.com/economy/752.html

Ask YC: Immigration (wrt entrepreneurs) conditions in Canada?

Related Stories