Canada Startup Visa Program
The Four Basic Requirements
There are four basic requirements you’ll need to meet in order to be eligible for a Canadian Start-Up Visa. Of course there are a few more requirements than what we will list here, but these are the main points. Once you request more information, our team can provide a full set of guidelines and requirements.
You must have a qualifying venture – It needs to be innovative and scalable and you must prove that you have value to bring to the venture.
You need to have a letter of support from a designated organization (that’s us!)
You must meet the language requirements – You must show that you meet the minimum level of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in either English or French in speaking, reading, listening, and writing. You will need to show your language proficiency within 3 months of being accepted into our program.
You’ll need to show that you have enough money to support yourself and any dependents once you arrive in Canada, and your ability to pay the associated incubation fees.
Empowered Startups – HQ’d in Vancouver but incubating anywhere
Our Canadian incubator headquarters is located in the heart of the diverse and green city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Unrivalled by any other city, the combination of lifestyle, well-being, leading innovation and technology, and cultural diversity makes Vancouver an attractive place to start up. Our remote locations include Whistler, BC and varying other communities in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Though our head office is located in Vancouver, you will have the ability to incubate from anywhere using our virtual opportunities.
Using our proven and powerful methodology, network, market insight and business expertise, we guide international entrepreneurs on a path to successfully start a business in Canada.
Become the Best
We educate and empower founders to build market offers and business models that empower their ideas to become the best in the world. We guide them through the rigours of Lean StartUp and Horizon Methodology, and cycle through the validated learning process of build-measure-learn.
Connect with the Best
We select entrepreneurs from around the world with the best innovative and scalable concepts to startup in Canada, with international reach. We are skilled at assisting entrepreneurs in de-risking their projects, increasing their speed to market, and enhancing the overall prosperity of the Canadian ecosystem they are entering.
Sell Internationally
We build startups that define and aggressively pursue revenue goals on this equation: My startup will sell $X of Y product to customers A, B, C in N number of countries in M number of months.
OUR PARTNERS
Our valued partnerships provide transnational entrepreneurs with opportunities to deepen the foundations and extend the reach of their ventures.
CANADA NEWS
Top Five Reasons to Pivot from H-1B Visa to the Start Up Visa in Canada
In July, the Canadian government announced a new option for H-1B visa holders in the US to receive expedited work permits to live and work in Canada for at least three years. The new program opened to 10,000 applicants for the year, but within 24 hours, the new...
Glazer Grows Community to 8,000+ Professional Video Gamers
Exciting growth from another startup in incubation at Empowered Startups. Glazer, an innovative video game publishing platform, has grown its online community to over 8,000 professional video gamers. Since its launch, Glazer has built a strong gaming community in...
We are Hiring an Administrative Assistant
About the Position About Us: Empowered Startups is a Global Startup Incubator, Accelerator, and Foundry with a diverse and expansive portfolio of international relationships and businesses. We partner with public research facilities to mentor, accelerate and...
ADVISORS
The following professionals generously offer their perspectives on our plans. We are grateful for the influence they continue to have on our projects.
Sean Lumb
Collaborator: Advisor
Sean is Director of New Ventures at The University of British Columbia and he applies his extensive experience, knowledge and networks to a number of Empowered Startup’s new ventures.
His experience spans over fifteen years of taking new ventures from the ideation stage to technology commercialization. One of his recent ventures sold to a multinational pharmaceutical firm for over $75 million. Sean specializes in the areas of early-stage technology commercialization, financing, management, and intellectual property management and licensing. Sean’s early stage experience, management talent and personal drive make a significant impact on Empowered’s startup ventures.
Dr. Peter Chow-White
Collaborator: Advisor
Dr. Peter Chow-White is Director and Professor of the GeNA Lab in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. He is deeply involved in the development, adoption, and social impact of communication, blockchain, big data, social media, and health and is a sought after speaker and analyst on these and many other topics. He advises and collaborates with industry and policy makers to build digital solutions and improve the role of communication, data, and social media in their organizations and has worked with a diverse set of private and public organizations.
Vincent Jansen
Collaborator: Advisor
Vincent Jansen is currently CEO of Denra Consulting in addition to his position as Director of Technology at an independent school. His career in K12 education spans 30+ years, with roles as teacher, administrator, business analyst and consultant at several Canadian and International Schools. His range of experiences include; education business sales, marketing & communications; strategic digital leadership; process intelligence, data/information management, reporting metrics and analytics. He has been a founder on several technical innovation start-ups and enjoys the challenge of engaging educational leaders to leverage technology into modern digital platforms.
Vincent is a member of CAIS, NAIS, Educational Collaborators, and on the Board of Directors at an EdTech startup. He has a Master’s Degree in Education Administration, along with a Certificate in use of Emerging Technologies in Learning. Vincent started as an educator, to hone a craft, design and foster inspiration to achieve results. Being results driven, he currently uses state-of-the-art digital tools to create visualization and data insights to transform educational institutions.