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Comment by brightsize | Hacker News Reader

From what I can tell, this wouldn't help me one bit. I'm an American who would love the opportunity to found a startup in Canada. That means being there from conception to MVP. But it sounds like this plan will only allow a pretty advanced company, one that has gained the interest of VCs, to move there. If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? Furthermore, what of startups that don't require VC money, is it really in Canada's best interest to put out the "Not Welcome" mat for them? I think the country needs to devise a program that lets the next non-resident Jobs/Woz or Gates/Allen to set up shop in their Canadian garage and get to work without any of this VC-related nonsense here.

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Agreed. I wholeheartedly agree with their fundamental idea, but going the VC route doesn't seem like a good way to do it. By the time you've built up all the connections and steam you need to develop a budding company that a VC would be interested in investing in, your roots are going to be too strong wherever you currently are to be able to move to Canada. I'll be surprised if they get anything more than a handful of companies to relocate.

Also, any time you involve money people, you set the stage for things to get crooked and shady. I can already hear the narrator from some "Inside Job" type documentary on corruption in Canada.

"However, the Canadians didn't account for one major loophole. In 2012, they passed a law allowing startups with venture capital to emigrate into the country, but what they didn't consider was: ___________"

I guess it depends on how much capital is required to qualify, but perhaps if startup teams were allowed to pitch at accelerators (plane tickets, no visas) and receive a funding option, then this would be a way in for them to start gathering later-stage investment interest. I'm not sure if "VC" referred to in the article means "any accelerator/incubator/super-angel program" or "proper VC firms".

For those startups that don't require VC money, I just think that the government has no clue how to deal with that without it being exploited like the last visa, so they figured they'd throw something out there that they could pull off with their majority government.

"If a company was founded elsewhere and was that far along, why would the team move it to Canada? "

Good question. But I'd also ask why, as an American, would you love to found a startup in Canada? What advantage over starting it in the US?

I assume it would be the obvious one: getting to live in Canada :)

Correct. I think it's a wonderful country in a great many ways and it would be a pleasure to live there. I was recently in Toronto and was surprised to find that it has a solid startup scene. I'd never heard that about the city, I'd just assumed it was full of back-office banking jobs for techies like me. I met some potential partners there and if/when something clicks, I'll still enjoy zero rights to be colocated with a Toronto-based team. There's the possibility of getting TN status I suppose but that's intended for employees, not founders.

Lower cost of talent (than large tech ecosystems in US), rebates on R&D talent, delinking of health care and employment, etc.

There are also advantages to living in the US of course, where this Canadian is currently working.

Probably none. But perhaps as a foreigner finding it difficult to relocate to the US you may find Canada a possible second choice, whereas right now it's just not even a possibility.

>> An initial source of candidates could be frustrated foreigners in the high-tech sector in the United States who have not been able to land resident status there.

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