Canada seeks to attract immigrant entrepreneurs

Canada will launch the Start-Up Visa program on April 1 to recruit immigrant entrepreneurs that have the support of a Canadian angel investor group, VC fund or business incubator to apply for permanent residency. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), entrepreneurs must provide proof that they have received a funding commitment of at least $75,000 from a designated angel investor network or at least $200,000 from a designated VC fund. The agency added, "The types and sizes of these promising ideas and businesses are best determined by the market, not by government." CIC said it will collaborate with Canada's Venture Capital & Private Equity Association and the National Angel Capital Organization on the program. CIC is the government agency in charge of the program.

Last May, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation proposing a similar program that would create an Entrepreneur's Visa for legal immigrants. The proposed Startup Act 2.0 also sought to create a new visa so that U.S.-educated foreign students who graduate with a master's degree or doctorate in science, technology, engineering or mathematics could receive a green card. The Senate did not vote on the bill before its session ended, and the bill has not been reintroduced in the 113th Congress (see BioCentury Extra, May 22, 2012). ...