Immigrant entrepreneurs sought under Canada’s new startup visa program

Amid a global economic slowdown, Ottawa hopes to capitalize on its “rock-star” status by inviting innovative entrepreneurs abroad to bring their next big idea to Canada.

If you have a brilliant business plan and a Canadian investor who bets on your vision, Canada’s door is open for you, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday, floating the idea of a new “startup visa” program for foreign entrepreneurs.

“There is no doubt immigrants are among our most creative and successful entrepreneurs and investors. They are people who left behind what’s familiar to them in order to take a huge chance on an uncertain future to pursue their dreams,” Kenney said at a Toronto news conference.

“Entrepreneurs need to dream big and they can’t be afraid to take risks . . . We’d like to attract more of these bright innovators and entrepreneurs, who can create companies, hi-tech and other value-added businesses, that have the potential to create hundreds of jobs.”

However, Canada’s current immigrant entrepreneur program, established in the 1970s, is dated to an old economy and its low eligibility threshold — a $300,000 business venture in operation for a minimum two years — has managed to bring in mostly corner stores and mall kiosks.

While Ottawa plans to launch public consultations to iron out the logistics of the new program, Kenney said candidates would not need capital themselves as long as they had the backing of Canadian investors.

The federal government will cap the number of applications to be processed under the program to 2,750 a year and it is not known how many will be successfully admitted. It’s undecided if selected entrepreneurs will arrive on a conditional visa to work here or as permanent residents.

Kenney said he hopes to roll it out by the end of the year, outgunning the United States, where a similar plan has been tabled in Congress to facilitate the entry of immigrant entrepreneurs.

The proposed program has already won accolades from Canadian venture capitalists like Kevin O’Leary, co-host of the CBC TV business program, The Lang and O’Leary Exchange.

“We are the rock stars in the world today. There are very few countries that have our status,” said O’Leary, on hand to lend his support to the government plan.

“This is a huge opportunity for us because every entrepreneur who starts a business in Canada has to think global. We can’t depend on the North American market. Every strategy we build our business on has to be one servicing world economies.”

That’s where immigrant entrepreneurs come in, with their know-how and innovation to bridge Canadian investors with overseas markets.

“You get a world-class entrepreneur regardless of geography or nationality and can put him on a Canadian-invested idea. So we’ll be able to expand the number of great ideas,” O’Leary said.

“This is a fantastic idea for investors like me . . . I look at global concepts, bring them here and make them ours.”

Immigrant entrepreneurs admitted to Canada dropped sharply from 580 in 2007 to 184 last year. In anticipating the changes, the government stopped accepting new applications in July.

Skilled worker faces three-year wait for immigration

The door to Canada will soon be shut for them with the Conservative government’s recent announcement it plans to return all skilled worker applications received before 2008 and wipe out the lengthy backlog. “It is absolutely unfair,” said Songqiao’s mother Yan Xu, a high school English teacher in Suzhou, China. “What we lost is not only money, but our youth, our life and our dreams.”

The applicants, many from China, India and the Philippines, wonder why those who patiently followed the rules and queued up for their rightful turn to come to Canada are now being unfairly punished. Ottawa says they can re-apply under the new skilled immigration program implemented after Feb. 27, 2008, where newregulations limit applications to a small number of occupations in need of highly skilled labour.

But the new qualifying job fields are so narrowly defined that many affected applicants, like Xu, will automatically be shut out.

“First-come-first-served is a universal value,”  another frustrated applicant who has been waiting in the backlog since 2007.

“The Canadian government let latecomers jump the queue and told the applicants in the backlog to wait for further processing, and finally slashed all of us without mercy,” said Li, who has a master’s degree in packaging technology. “What the Canadian government has done is draconian.”

A demonstration is planned next week in front of the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong, with applicants from other regions expected to follow suit. Since Ottawa’s plan was revealed, immigration lawyers and consultants have been frantically answering calls from disillusioned clients overseas. TheCanadian Bar Association has struck a subcommittee to examine the proposed changes and investigate whether the government has the legal authority to stop processing the applications and have them refunded and returned.

“People have been calling, distraught. They just cannot believe it,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Mario Bellissimo, who chairs the subcommittee. “This is a wrong message to be sent by a government purported not to reward queue-jumpers.” The plan has also created havoc for some lawyers with clients looking for a refund of the thousands of dollars in consulting fees, he added. But Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the move, while understandably unpopular, is necessary.

“I can understand their frustration and I regret the fact that they waited patiently in the queue only to find out that we’re returning their applications,” Kenney told the Star. “If we don’t decisively deal with the old backlog, we’ll be carrying it well into the future. With this reimbursement of fees, we will be able to get to what we call ‘working inventory’ or a ‘just-in-time’ system by the first quarter of 2014.”

Regrets are not enough for affected applicants, however, many of whom put their lives on hold and worked around their immigration plans.

Highly-skilled temporary foreign workers to get PR quickly: Kenney

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced this week that in order to more quickly meet Canada’s labour market needs, the immigration department will make changes to allow highly-skilled temporary foreign workers to transition to permanent residence more quickly.

“Thousands of highly-skilled foreign nationals are working successfully in Canada on a temporary basis,” said Kenney. “Expediting their transition to permanent residence would help Canada retain bright and talented people who already have Canadian work experience and the ability to communicate in English or French. In many cases, they already have a job lined up. Such newcomers are set for success.”

In order to respond to Canada’s growing skill shortages, the department announced they will reduce the work experience requirement for eligible temporary foreign workers applying for permanent residency. Under the current rules, applicants applying for permanent residencyunder the temporary foreign worker stream of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) must have spent at least 24 months in full-time job within the last 36 months. Under the proposed changes, the requirement would be reduced to only 12 months of work experience.

These changes follow the department’s recent announcement to make Canada’s immigration system more efficient while focusing on jobs and growth.

Top Ten Best Company to Work in CANADA

   

One night last summer, as you were likely unwinding after a long, thankless day at the office, employees of Research In Motion loaded onto a bus for a very special evening. The Waterloo-based tech giant had rented out the Rogers Centre in Toronto and brought in U2 to play a private concert for its employees. On the "Man, do I wish I worked there" scale, this ranks about an 8.5 or nine out of 10.

Sounds like a great perk, right? Well, the Great Place to Work Institute has ranked the top places for employees in Canada. All findings are based on a survey of 40,000 Canucks that accounts for a variety of workplace factors. Did RIM and its rock star benefits make the list? Click through the following slides to see the top ten results for yourself.

10. L.V. Lomas Limited

http://www.lvlomas.com

Headquarters: Brampton, Ont.

Employees: 193

What L.V. Lomas thinks of its employees is splashed right across the company website's home page: "To be the best in the industry, hire the best people." Indeed, the chemical distributor appears to make a point of treating its workforce right - this is the second year running the company has appeared on the Great Place to Work Institute's top 25 list. With almost 200 employees across four Canadian locations, L.V. Lomas also boasts two U.S. branches in Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash.

* Five companies hiring this month

* Workplace rules made to be bent

* Looming retirement crisis a major problem?

9. Keller Williams Ottawa Realty

http://www.kwottawa.ca/

Headquarters: Ottawa, Ont.

Employees: 295

Keller Williams has a longstanding position on the Great Place to Work Institute's list, having cracked the top 25 in four of the last five years. According to the realtor's website, KW's Ottawa branch (Keller Williams is a major U.S. chain) has already become the "largest single real estate office in Ottawa" since opening in 2001. Last year, when it appeared at number eight on this same list, Keller Williams Ottawa was also named as the second-best Canadian employer for women by the Globe and Mail.

8. Precision BioLogic

http://www.precisionbiologic.com/

Headquarters: Dartmouth, N.S.

Employees: 56

"Your stuff is just superior. I always say if you're not using PBI, then you're not using quality." That's a quote from a satisfied Precision BioLogic customer that appears proudly on the medical manufacturer's website. And, considering the site is also filled with images of the company's smiling employees, it's quite apparent the privately-owned Maritime business puts value in its personal touch, something it achieves with the smallest number of employees on this year's Great Place to Work's list.

7. Microsoft Canada

http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca

Headquarters: Mississauga, Ont.

Employees: 1,028

While Microsoft Canada has become a mainstay on this list — it's cracked the Great Place to Work Institute's top 25 in three of the last four years — never has the company been a better place for Canadians to work. Having risen to the seventh spot, Canada's arm of the U.S. tech pioneer boasts several employee programs that make work a little brighter each day. One of those is the "I Volunteer" initiative, which allows Microsoft Canada employees to take up to five days off per year to volunteer in their communities during work hours.

http://www.protegra.com/

Headquarters: Winnipeg, Man.

Employees: 68

At number six, Protegra is actually down three spots from last year (it ranked number three on 2009's list), but don't let the tiny dip put you off. The Winnipeg-based IT solutions company is no stranger to accolades. In 2006, Protegra was selected as one of the most "innovative, inspiring" workplaces in Winnipeg by the Winnipeg Free Press and was given the number one ranking for Best Small and Medium Employer in Canada by the Globe and Mail.

5. Devon Canada Corporation

http://www.devonenergy.com

Headquarters: Calgary, Alta.

Employees: 1,558

Normally, when a big corporation says it maintains a "small company feel that stems from our family-owned roots," it's little more than a grab for a few positive PR headlines. However, Devon Energy — a multinational operation with more than 5,000 employees — may just be telling the truth. The Canadian arm of the Oklahoma City-based corporation, which features the above proclamation on its website, has been featured on the Great Places to Work Institution's list two years running and was named the best Calgary oil and gas company to work for by CalgaryInc magazine.

4. SAS Institute (Canada) Inc.

http://www.sas.com/offices/NA/canada/

Headquarters: Toronto, Ont.

Employees: 241

SAS, the world's largest privately held software company, opened its Canadian doors in 1988 and now maintains offices in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. And its Toronto headquarters gives its tech employees one of the most eco-friendly atmospheres to work in. SAS Canada's downtown office is the country's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building, consuming as much as 65 per cent less energy than the typical Ontario workplace each year.

3. Google Canada

http://www.google.ca

Headquarters: Toronto, Ont.

Employees: 101

By Google Canada's own estimation, it "is not a conventional company, and [it doesn't] intend to become one." That's just one of the messages displayed on the search engine's corporate site, which offers a "Top 10 reasons to work at Google" list featuring a range of employee perks, benefits and stock option programs. Hubris aside, Google Canada is — by most accounts — a fine place to work, having placed in the top 10 of the Great Place to Work Institution's rankings two years running. Last year, the company was ranked number one overall in Canada.

2. NetApp Canada Ltd.

Headquarters: Mississauga, Ont.

Employees: 71

Where the Great Place to Work Institution's list is concerned, NetApp Canada rocketed onto the scene only this year. The local arm of the California-based data storage company never appeared in the GPWI rankings before leaping right into the number two ranking in 2010. The company's strong standing with its Canadian employees is mirrored in its positive workplace relations in the U.S., where it's landed on Fortune magazine's Best (American) Companies to Work For list eight years in a row

http://eci.environics.net

Headquarters: Toronto, Ont.
Employees: 76

Environics Communications has dominated the Great Place to Work Institution's rankings for the last four years, appearing in the top five each year. Until now, though, it has never reached the number one position. According to the Canadian Press, Environics rewards company loyalty by offering generous long-service rewards to its employees. Hailed by GPWI as a "high-trust work environment," workers who have been with the company for five years get $5,000 toward travel expenses and an additional week of vacation per year.

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for immigrants who want to become canadian citizen

Applying for Canadian Citizenship

Congratulations on making it this far! Becoming a citizen is the final step in the immigration process. It signifies your commitment to Canada and your intention to contribute to your adopted country as a member of its citizenry.

It’s a big step, and it’s important to approach it with care.

Who Can Apply for Canadian Citizenship

To become a Canadian citizen, you must meet the following basic eligibility requirements:

1. (1) You must be at least 18 years of age;
2. (2) You must be a Permanent Resident of Canada;
3. (3) You must have resided in Canada for at least three of the last four years;
4. (4) You must not have any criminal prohibitions; and
5. (5) You must pass the Citizenship Test and Interview.

Canada Citizenship Act - Criminal Prohibitions

You cannot become a citizen if you:

• have been convicted of an indictable (criminal) offence or an offence under the Citizenship Act in the three years before you apply;
• are currently charged with an indictable offence or an offence under the Citizenship Act;
• are in prison, on parole or on probation;
• are under a removal order (have been ordered by Canadian officials to leave Canada);
• are under investigation for, are charged with, or have been convicted of a war crime or a crime against humanity; or
• you have had your Canadian citizenship taken away in the past five years.

Passing the Canada Citizenship Test and Interview

In order to pass the citizenship test and interview, you must be able to show the following:

1. -1 Adequate knowledge of English or French; and
2. -2 Knowledge of Canada, including the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and an understanding of Canada's history, values, institutions and symbols.

What are the steps in the Canadian Citizenship process?

1. (1) Complete your application quickly and accurately, with our easy-to-use Form Navigator^TM technology.
2. (2) Pay the government filing fee online.
3. (3) Gather your supporting documents and submit your application to CIC.
4. (4) Upon notification from CIC, appear for the Citizenship Test and Interview
5. (5) Upon approval, get sworn in at the Citizenship Ceremony