Once a 12-month process, the SUV has ballooned to 53 months amid concerns about program misuse.

While talk swirls about the potential for Canada to attract foreign technology talent in the wake of changes to the United States’ H-1B visa, wait times under Canada’s existing program for luring immigrant entrepreneurs have grown to 53 months.

Canada’s Start-up Visa (SUV) Program offers a direct path to permanent residency for foreign entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas. but SUV processing time has now surpassed four years, and the ballooned timeline has led some to question whether the program is an effective mechanism for bringing foreign founders to the country.

“As if entrepreneurs will wait a full economic cycle to open a business in Canada,” Testbed Lab president Kirk Lubimov wrote in an X post.

Listed SUV processing times have ballooned from about 12 months in 2022 to over four years today.

Launched as a pilot in 2013 after the end of the Federal Entrepreneurship Program (FEP), the SUV was made permanent in 2018. While publicly listed SUV wait times have increased substantially since July 2022, when they were a more modest 12 to 16 months, a 2023 report from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) acknowledges that processing these applications has been a growing problem for much of the SUV’s lifespan. 

In 2018, SUV applications took 11 months to process, compared to 16 months in 2019, the report indicates. Program wait times surged to 28 months in 2020 and have grown since then, hitting 32 months in 2022, the last year the report covers. Archived web data indicates SUV processing around this time in 2023 took about 37 months, and by 2024, it had reached 40 months.

IRCC took over sole administration of the SUV last year from the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and the National Angel Capita

Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program Struggles to Replicate Success of Predecessor

Canada’s Start-Up Visa (SUV) program, launched in 2013, is facing scrutiny for its performance, falling short of expectations set by its predecessor, the Federal Entrepreneur Program (FEP). Recent analysis indicates the SUV is struggling to stimulate job creation, foster global trade, and support long-term business viability.

The SUV requires incoming founders to secure support from a designated venture capital (VC) fund ($200,000 investment), angel investor group ($75,000 investment), or a business incubator (acceptance into an incubation program).

Former Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) policy advisor, Patrick Navarro, explained the program’s intent was to shift decision-making authority from goverment officials to investors and incubators capable of vetting technology startups, while retaining final approval with immigration officers. Navarro believes the program’s design and the designated organizations contribute to its current challenges.

RELATED: IRCC takes over sole administration of Start-up Visa program from NACO, CVCA

“Whereas the angel stream and the VC stream had to put money up to support the companies … the incubators didn’t have to, but also were able to charge the companies for services,” Navarro said in a recent podcast interview. He added that this structure creates opportunities for some organizations to exploit the program for financial gain.

Navarro highlighted a surge in “low-quality” applications submitted by individuals attempting to monetize the SUV, overwhelming the system and complicating the review process for officials.Multiple sources familiar with the SUV program, speaking to BetaKit last year, also voiced concerns about incubators charging excessive fees for letters of support.

A 2023 report from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) revealed that incubators accounted for four-fifths of all submissions and were responsible for “most of the problematic” applications.

the report also identified misuse by immigration lawyers and consultants selling SUV business plans,and suggested that the high volume of weak applications indicates many applicants lack a genuine business plan.