Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - September 2012
The Conservative Government has announced plans to implement a new entrepreneur visa that would attract young and ambitious minds in such sectors as technology.
Under the proposed program, Canadian investors would be able to choose an entrepreneur in whom to invest, and they would be able to obtain a visa within a matter of weeks. Experts believe that the government could be targeting frustrated entrepreneurs who are having a hard time securing visas in the United States.
�This program will link brilliant, job-creating, immigrant entrepreneurs with Canadian investors,� said a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. �We want the world�s best and brightest to come to Canada � to start businesses and to create jobs in Canada.�
The previous entrepreneur program has been on moratorium for several months, after issuing approximately 700 visas in the year prior. Entrepreneurs were required to invest in a new business, hire one employee, and then leave the business after a period of one year.
The new program is expected to result in approximately 2,500 entrepreneur visas each year.
Many other federal immigration programs are also currently undergoing transformations, including the investor class which formerly required applicants to lend anywhere between $400,000 and $800,000 to provincial governments.
Source: Financial Post
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/09/11/canada-plans-new-visa-to-lure-high-tech-immigrant-entrepreneurs/
