Increase Start‑Up Visa admissions
Petitioners ask increased annual SUV admissions, more IRCC processing resources, risk‑based triage to fast‑track qualified founders, and limited work permits. The government responds it is prioritizing existing applications, paused new intakes, and narrowed work‑permit eligibility.
Why we would sign this petition
- Reduces backlogs so vetted founders can arrive sooner to build companies, hire staff and access Canadian markets, fulfilling the SUV program’s purpose.
- More admissions and IRCC staffing would help attract high‑growth immigrant entrepreneurs and strengthen innovation and competitiveness.
- Risk‑based triage and limited work permits focus on founders already showing traction or holding valid work status, enabling faster business development.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- The Immigration Levels Plan limits annual admissions; increasing SUV admissions may be infeasible without reducing other categories or raising overall targets.
- Additional staffing and faster processing may not reduce inventories if intake still exceeds allotted admission space under the Levels Plan.
- Fast‑tracking and broader work permits could disadvantage other priorities; a targeted pilot or reassessed admission limits may be a better alternative.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship In recent years, Start-Up Visa applicants have faced extensive and unpredictable processing delays, often spanning multiple years despite rigorous vetting by designated organizations, undermining the purpose of the SUV Program by preventing founders from accessing Canadian markets, building their companies, hiring employees, accessing non-dilutive funding and contributing to Canada’s economy; Canada’s 2026–2028 immigration levels plan allocates a limited number of annual permanent residence admissions to the Start-Up Visa (SUV) Program, despite Canada’s broader economic immigration strategy to attract top global talent; Start-ups play a critical role in strengthening economic resilience and boosting productivity by driving innovation and expanding Canada’s competitiveness in emerging sectors. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to 1. Increase annual permanent residence admissions under the Start-Up Visa Program to reflect Canada’s goal in immigration to attract the best talent and to capitalize on the high-growth potential of immigrant-founded start-ups. 2. Allocate additional resources and staffing to IRCC offices processing SUV applications to reduce backlogs. 3. Adopt a risk-based triage system to fast-track low-risk applicants, including those who: a. have demonstrable business traction, b. reside in Canada on valid work permits, have invested capital in growing their businesses or undertaken measurable investment preparation, and demonstrated business traction. 4. Resume issuing a limited number of work permits to essential founders, enabling them to build early business traction.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Signed by PETER FRAGISKATOS, M.P. The Government of Canada recognizes the important contributions that immigrant entrepreneurs make to Canada’s economy, and agrees that they help drive innovation and expand Canada’s competitiveness in emerging sectors. We acknowledge that many Start-Up Visa (SUV) program applicants have experienced extensive and unpredictable processing times in recent years, and we are taking steps to both address this challenge and to make processing times more predictable. The government is prioritizing efficiency by streamlining processes, improving case triage and prioritization, and advancing digital service delivery across Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). However, lengthening processing times in the SUV program are a result of high application volumes relative to available annual admissions space in recent years. When application intake volumes exceed the annual admissions space set in the Immigration Levels Plan, inventories grow and processing times lengthen regardless of additional staffing or funding. The Minister of IRCC is required by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to table in the House of Parliament each year, the number of foreign nationals projected to become permanent residents in the following year. This is known as the Immigration Levels Plan (Levels Plan), which is a rolling three-year plan with firm targets in the first year and notional targets for the outer two years. The Levels Plan is developed through extensive consultations with federal departments, provinces and territories, partners and stakeholders, and the public, and weighs government priorities for immigration; economic, labour-market and regional needs; international obligations; and both processing and settlement capacity. Within this framework, SUV admissions are managed alongside Canada’s broader economic immigration, family reunification, and humanitarian commitments. The 2026-2028 Levels Plan supports the government’s commitments to return overall immigration rates to sustainable levels, and stabilize permanent resident admissions at less than 1% of Canada’s population beyond 2027. The Plan sets permanent resident admissions targets at 380 000 per year for 2026 to 2028. For the Federal Business category (which includes SUV and the Self-Employed Persons Program), the Plan set targets at 500 admissions in 2026 and notionally 500 in 2027 and 2028. We have taken strong steps to address long wait times for the SUV program, most notably by introducing a pause on the acceptance of new SUV applications for permanent residence, except for those from applicants who have a valid commitment from a designated organization that was made in 2025 but have not applied yet. This pause, which came into effect on January 1, 2026, means that IRCC can focus its processing efforts on applications already on hand, which will help reduce the application inventory that contributes to long wait times for clients. While fast-tracking certain applications for processing may be desirable for various reasons, doing so must still respect the admissions space available in the Levels Plan. With respect to the SUV program, IRCC does allocate admissions spaces to the most promising applications as per the priority processing criteria that came into effect on January 1, 2026. Applications are eligible for prioritization if they have been accepted for processing and at least one member of the application group holds a valid work permit and the venture is backed by an authorized venture capital fund, an authorized angel investor group, or where the authorized business incubator is a member of Canada’s Tech Network. Finally, the government remains committed to issuing work permits for the SUV program in a responsible and sustainable manner. To support the government’s commitment to reduce Canada’s non-permanent resident population to less than 5% of Canada’s total population by the end of 2027, we have changed the eligibility criteria for the SUV work permit that will reduce the number of work permits issued by focusing on applicants already building businesses here. This approach helps ensure essential founders can maintain their status, continue growing their companies, and remain engaged in the Canadian economy while their permanent residence applications are finalized. Looking ahead, these measures are intended to prepare for a transition to a new, targeted pilot program for immigrant entrepreneurs, which will ensure that Canada remains attractive to top entrepreneurial talent while respecting our government’s commitment to return immigration to sustainable levels. More details on the new pilot program will be shared later in 2026.