In a Holiday Home Times Live session, we were joined by Stephen Green and Eren Sari, both of Green and Spiegel LLP — one of Canada's oldest and most respected immigration law practices, headquartered in Toronto with offices spanning Canada and the United States. The firm has been advising immigrant entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations on Canadian business immigration for over 50 years.
The original conversation, held in November 2020, covered Canada's Start-Up Visa programme, the Provincial Nominee Programme, and the various investor and entrepreneur pathways available to those seeking to establish roots in Canada. Since then, the landscape has shifted considerably. This updated editorial incorporates 2024 reality checks alongside the expert guidance from Stephen and Eren.
Canada's Appeal: Why It Continues to Attract Global Investors and Entrepreneurs
Canada's fundamental attractions as a destination for internationally mobile investors and entrepreneurs remain compelling. It is the world's second-largest country by land area, consistently ranks in the top tier of global quality-of-life indices, and offers a combination of political stability, rule of law, universal healthcare, world-class universities, and a genuinely multicultural society that places it among the most consistently desirable immigration destinations on the planet.
Canada's economy is diversified and resilient: resource extraction (oil, gas, minerals, timber) provides a natural wealth foundation, while a sophisticated services sector — financial services, technology, consulting, and professional services — anchors the major metropolitan economies of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The technology sector in particular has grown substantially: Toronto-Waterloo has emerged as one of North America's most significant AI research and startup ecosystems, and Vancouver and Montreal have attracted substantial investments from US-based technology companies seeking talent in a cost-competitive environment.
For investors in real estate and lifestyle assets, Canada's market is less directly accessible than India or Southeast Asia — foreign buyer restrictions in key provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario's additional non-resident transfer tax, have raised the regulatory complexity of direct property investment. The more compelling pathway for most internationally mobile HNW individuals is to establish genuine Canadian residency through one of the business immigration programmes, thereby gaining full access to the property market on the same terms as domestic residents.
The Start-Up Visa Programme: Opportunity and Reality in 2024
Stephen Green and Eren Sari were notably enthusiastic about Canada's Start-Up Visa (SUV) programme when it was introduced, describing it as one of the most sophisticated and forward-looking entrepreneur immigration programmes in the world. That assessment remains broadly accurate — but the programme's operational reality in 2024 has become considerably more challenging than it appeared in 2020.
The SUV is designed for entrepreneurs who have a genuinely innovative business idea and can secure a letter of support from a qualifying Canadian entity: a designated venture capital fund (minimum investment of $200,000 CAD), a designated angel investor group (minimum $75,000 CAD), or a designated business incubator. The programme requires no minimum net worth threshold and does not mandate the entrepreneur to invest their own capital in the Canadian business — the qualifying investment comes from the supporting Canadian entity.
In principle, this makes the SUV one of the most accessible high-quality immigration pathways for early-stage entrepreneurs with genuinely innovative concepts. In practice, the programme is experiencing severe operational strain:
- Processing times: As of 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reports processing times for SUV applications of 39 months or more from the date of application — compared with the 12–16 months that characterised the programme in its earlier years. This delay reflects a combination of high application volumes and IRCC's processing resource constraints, and has substantially reduced the programme's practical attractiveness for applicants who need certainty within a reasonable timeframe.
- Competition for designated entity support: The number of qualifying designated organisations — VCs, angels, and incubators — has not grown proportionally to the demand for SUV support letters. Competition for letters of support from credible designated entities is intense, and the quality filter applied by serious designated VCs and incubators is high. Applicants should be prepared for a structured pitching and due diligence process that may take several months before a letter of support is even issued.
- Interim work permit: Applicants who have received a letter of support from a designated entity can apply for a work permit to begin operations in Canada while the permanent residency application is processed. This interim pathway has become essential for applicants who cannot practically suspend their entrepreneurial activity for the multi-year processing period.
The Provincial Nominee Programme: A Faster But More Variable Route
The Provincial Nominee Programme (PNP) allows individual Canadian provinces and territories to nominate foreign nationals for permanent residency based on provincial economic priorities. Each province operates its own streams, with different criteria, processing times, and investment or income requirements.
Stephen and Eren noted that the PNP offers a potentially faster pathway than the federal SUV for applicants who can satisfy a specific province's criteria. In practice, the most relevant provincial entrepreneur streams for internationally mobile investors and entrepreneurs in 2024 are:
- British Columbia Entrepreneur Immigration: Requires a minimum personal net worth of $600,000 CAD, a minimum investment in a qualifying BC business of $200,000 CAD (or $100,000 for regional businesses), and demonstrated active management of the business. Processing times are generally shorter than the federal SUV stream, and BC's track record as a destination for entrepreneurial immigration is well-established.
- Ontario Immigrant Nominee Programme — Entrepreneur Stream: Ontario's entrepreneur stream requires a minimum net worth of $1.5 million CAD, investment of at least $1 million in a business outside the Greater Toronto Area (or $1.5 million within the GTA), and the creation of at least five permanent full-time jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The thresholds are higher than comparable programmes in other provinces, reflecting Ontario's relative affluence and the depth of its existing immigrant entrepreneurial community.
- Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme: The Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme is the only active government-sponsored investor immigration stream currently accepting applications in Canada. The programme requires a minimum net worth of $2 million CAD and a passive investment of $1.2 million CAD for a period of five years (the investment is returned at the end of the term). Quebec is notably different from the rest of Canada in its linguistic and cultural character — applicants and their families are expected to demonstrate an intention to settle in Quebec and are required to pass French language assessments or commit to French language training.
The Broader Investor Landscape: What Has Changed Since 2020
Eren Sari made an observation in the original webinar that has proven prescient: "Canada's immigration system is generous and well-structured, but it rewards preparation, patience, and authenticity. The investors who succeed in the Canadian market are the ones who have a genuine business plan, genuinely intend to live in Canada, and engage the right professional advisers from the outset."
The 2024 environment has made this advice more important than ever. IRCC has intensified scrutiny of business immigration applications — particularly in the SUV category, which experienced a period of applications from individuals who had nominal letters of support from designated entities but no genuine intention of operating a Canadian business. Quality of the underlying business concept, credibility of the letter of support from the designated entity, and the applicant's ability to demonstrate genuine connection to the Canadian ecosystem are all evaluated more rigorously than they were in the programme's early years.
For investors with the patience and capital to navigate the process, Canada's business immigration programmes remain genuinely valuable: permanent residency that leads to citizenship after three years of presence, access to a stable, prosperous, and welcoming country, and the full range of economic and social rights that Canadian permanent residency confers. The pathway is longer and more demanding than it was in 2020 — but for the right applicant, with the right adviser and the right preparation, it remains one of the world's most worthwhile immigration investments.
Stephen Green is a Senior Partner and Eren Sari is Business Immigration and Development Senior Manager at Green and Spiegel LLP, one of Canada's largest immigration law practices. Immigration regulations, processing times, and programme requirements are subject to change. Prospective applicants should obtain current professional legal advice before initiating any immigration application. Processing time figures referenced in this article are based on IRCC published data as of 2024.