B.C. launches program urging entrepreneurs to start-up business in small towns

FILE: View of British Columbia from Harbour Centre (Photo by Harshil Shah/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

The government of British Columbia (B.C.) is launching a program that will encourage entrepreneur immigrants to set-up their business to cities which have less population and are far from urban areas, the Vancouver Sun reported.

According to the report, B.C.’s Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology Bruce Ralston said there are already 30 city mayors who are “on board” with the program called BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) Regional Pilot which “supports regional communities to attract entrepreneurs with a desire to start businesses, create jobs and settle in regional centres, and contribute to their local economy.”

The Vancouver Sun said a lot of migration specialists urged Canada to “develop incentives” to make immigrants go to small towns, noting that “80 percent” of them “end up choosing the country’s major cities.”

“This pilot program is designed to get people to commit to small communities. They would have to establish a business and stay for a minimum of one year until they obtain permanent resident status, which usually takes another 18 months,” Ralston was quoted as saying in the report.

“Once they have permanent residency the law says they can move wherever they want. But we think the stickiness of establishing a business in a warm community that would be enthusiastic and would wrap their arms around you would be important,” he added.

The program requires interested entrepreneurs to conduct an exploratory community visit, invest a minimum of 0,000 in business, have a minimum personal net worth of 0,000, take on a minimum of 51 percent ownership, and create at least one job for a Canadian citizen.

During the exploratory visit, the foreign entrepreneur should present his business idea to the community’s designated contact person, who is tasked to prepare a referral form for submission as part of the applicant’s registration.

Communities, meanwhile, must have “a population of fewer than 75,000” and be “located beyond 30 kilometers of a municipality of more than 75,000” for them to be eligible for the program. They should also “demonstrate their capacity to support foreign entrepreneurs through an established network of settlement and business support agencies.”