Business Opportunities in Canada
VERUSCHKA MUNGROO
Toronto – New research has found that immigrants are more likely to become successful entrepreneurs than natives of their respective country. According to a study by Peter Vandor, a senior researcher and lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, an analysis of the global immigration market has shown that there is a remarkable tendency of international immigrants to start companies – often at a much greater rate than the native-born residents of those countries.
In Canada, this research is clearly evident by a study released by Businesses in Canada (BDC) which states that immigrant entrepreneurs create more jobs than those owned by native Canadians, which is further backed up by a Statistics Canada study, entitled ‘Immigrant Entrepreneurs as Job Creators’ which provides further evidence of the positive economic role played by the country’s immigrant entrepreneur population.
The Statistics Canada quantitative data showed that 25% of the net jobs created in the private incorporated sector between 2003 and 2013 (the study period) were from firms owned by immigrants who entered Canada since 1980 while the BDC study indicated that as of 2016, there were 600 000 self-employed immigrants in the country, employing 260 000+ Canadians.
The entrepreneurship rate is expected to increase exponentially in the next few years, writes the BDC.
“With immigrants expected to account for up to 80 per cent of Canada’s population growth by 2032, this trend will continue to fuel entrepreneurship in Canada over the next decades.
“As Canada becomes increasingly diverse, its entrepreneur class will follow suit,” BDC writes in its report.
Vandor’s paper published in the Journal of World Business cited that there are several contributing factors for this phenomena. He states that based on his research, ultimately it comes down to the willingness to assume reasonable risks by immigrants.
“By living in different cultures, they (immigrants) encounter new products, services, customer preferences, and communication strategies, and this exposure may allow the transfer of knowledge about customer problems or solutions from one country to another.
By applying this kind of arbitrage, a temporary or permanent migrant can decide to replicate a profitable product or business model available in one’s country but not in another. Successful companies such as Starbucks (inspired by coffeehouses in Italy) and the German online retailer Zalando (inspired by Zappos) exemplify the potential of this strategy.
“Cross-cultural experiences may also stimulate creativity,” wrote Vandor and his co-writer Nikolaus Franke, in the Harvard Business Review .
The IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) ministry created various entrepreneurship immigration streams, as part of their initiative to attract, sustain and boost the booming business industry through immigration, while also creating new jobs for citizens and permanent residents in the country.
The various entrepreneur and self employed programs, are aimed at at individuals with a mid-range personal net worth who intend to establish and operate a business in Canada, while the investor program is suited for high net worth individuals who wish to make a passive investment with no obligation to establish a business. Wealthy business immigrants may buy or establish a new business in Canada and qualify for a temporary work visa, under the federal ‘owner-operator’ policies in which after a period of time, applicants may qualify for permanent residence under a suitable immigration program.
Other business immigration offering permanent admission to Canada includes the Federal Start-Up Visa; Federal Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Pilot Program; Provincial Nominee Entrepreneur, Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), Quebec Entrepreneur and Quebec Self-Employed Programs.
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