powered by the Silicon Valley Business Journal

Canada pitches startups with lower taxes, instant residency

Canada’s new immigration-centric pitch to Silicon Valley’s many foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Canada is pitching Silicon Valley entrepreneurs on northern migration.

The gist: Easier access to visas for foreign-born entrepreneurs, a growing base of engineering talent, R&D tax credits and lower corporate taxes.

Low-tax U.S. states like Arizona, Nevada and Washington have pitched financial incentives to Silicon Valley companies mulling a move for years (read more about some recent attempts here). But Canada has a leg up on one issue near and dear to many in the Valley tech community – a new Start-Up Visa Program offering permanent residency to foreign entrepreneurs, who often encounter U.S. immigration obstacles when coming to the Valley.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, was in Silicon Valley over the weekend to attend the entrepreneurship conference TieCon in Santa Clara. Kenney also spoke at a Silicon Valley Business Journal event on Monday, “Start-up Visa and Doing Business in Canada.”

“We know that there are tens of thousands of brilliant young international workers, typically in the stem industries…who cannot get their immigration status figured out,” Kenney said Monday. “We are prepared to take a risk on risk-takers.”

Kenney jokingly referenced the incongruity with Canada’s reputation for polite conservatism when explaining the play for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: “I apologize for being uncharacteristically aggressive,” he quipped.

The country recently took out a local billboard ad emblazoned with a slogan highlighting Silicon Valley companies’ difficulty obtaining employer-sponsored H-1B visas. The billboard reads “H-1B problems? Pivot to Canada.”