Canada: Restrictions to Start-Up Visa and Self-Employed Persons Programs Announced

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced several restrictions to Canada’s federal business programs to help reduce processing times and application backlogs. Effective April 30, 2024, IRCC will implement a cap on the number of permanent residence applications it will accept for processing each year under the Start-up Visa Program to 10 start-ups per Designated Organization. By way of background, to qualify for the Start-up Visa program, the applicant’s business or venture must get support from a designated organization in Canada. Designated organizations are venture capital funds, angel investor groups or business incubators, approved by the Canadian government to invest in or support possible start-ups through the Start-up Visa Program. Currently, there is no cap on how many start-ups/applications a designated organization can support. Furthermore, IRCC announced that it will prioritize Start-Up Visa applications in the venture capital and angel investor streams, as well as applications supported by a business incubator that is a member of Canada’s Tech Network, over others. Also effective April 30, 2024, IRCC will suspend the acceptance of new applications under the Self-Employed Persons Program to focus on applications from the backlogs (due to the high volume, processing times have increased beyond four years) and assess options for reforming the program.