

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

As far as I know Canada has an open immigration policy for educated workers (&#62;= college degree).<p>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
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...](http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/entrepreneurs/apply-
after.asp#conditions) 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.

~~~
jwilliams
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).

~~~
rguzman
_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. ;-)

------
st3fan
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
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>

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

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

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

~~~
kapitti
It's been a few years since I've spoken French on a daily basis, and I've
always talked slang (from a francophone part of New Brunswick), but shouldn't
you leave off the 'le'?

~~~
DavidPP
'le' is akin to 'are' in this context, so yes, it's needed :)

