The Honorable Gerry Weiner P.C. was the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship for Canada in the 1980s when the country’s Immigrant Investor Program was first established. It was an immigration program that offered Permanent Residency status in Canada for making an investment with the government of Canada. The program ran unabated for almost 20 years. It was hoped that Investors would make further business investments once they arrived in Canada. The program was canceled as it did not achieve its goals of creating employment opportunities within Canada.
What has become clear is through time most countries seem to have an interest in citizenship-by-investment, they’re quite happy to get the money, give up residency and citizenship, but very little interest in having the individual come and do something, with the exception of the United States, which develop the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program.
Start-up Visa program
The Start-up Visa program looks at an individual’s business background and how they accumulated their wealth. It’s been extremely successful. Africa has an interest because there’s been a lot of instability, and with the Start-up Visa there is an opportunity for business persons to do very well using their innovative ideas in a more entrepreneurial environment. If you take Nigeria as an example, there’s insecurity, instability, but there’s also a huge talent base that can’t find a place in their society. During the time Gerry Weiner was a minister, he had three ministerial trips to Africa, and he always thought that the huge diaspora that was growing should be of great benefit to Africa itself. Where individuals who are now successful in their new country go back and help do more for the industry and the quality of life of people back home. It hasn’t quite happened that way yet, but it will, with time.
In Canada, there is a tendency to want to live right beside the United States. However, there are huge natural resources in Canada, and it means there’s an opportunity within all kinds of areas for new technologies. If you’re trying to grow your economy, you want people to put bricks and mortar in the ground. Money alone is not going to do it, hiring people does, bringing in the talent changes a countries perspective.
Oh, Canada
Canada replaces about one percent of its population in terms of immigrants and refugees. They could do a lot more. The former prime minister, Brian Mulroney, and Gerry Weiner both believe that there should be one million immigrants and refugees coming in every year. Some people think they’re crazy, but they’ve seen the development. Every single community, when they’ve been allowed to participate fully, witnesses that the growth is massive- over one or two generations. Canada’s diversity has been consistently growing and there is equality of opportunity for all. It’s a major strength within the country.
Canada is a huge country, the second or third largest in the world. There is enough space; there are three people for every square kilometer. However, in some parts of Asia, there are about 150 people for every kilometer.
The Investor migration
The Investor migration industry has developed as Gerry Weiner thought it would because it became very competitive. There are a lot of countries that wanted to get their fingers into it, they were watching positive developments, and they realized that something good is going on. You can’t just allow your passport to be sold, then you’re not getting a full benefit. The process had to evolve; I think that the brain talent was always out there, but often living in situations that were a bit insecure. In the mid-’80s, Gerry Weiner was the creator of the Canadian immigration investment program.
Mr. Gerry Weiner & Canadian Start-up Visa
Gerry Weiner has most recently been helping entrepreneurs from around the world to apply for the Canadian Start-up Visa. This offers Canadian permanent residence to qualified immigrant entrepreneurs.
Over 1600 visas have been issued via the Canadian Start-up Visa program since 2013, as per government immigration statistics. APS Global Partners, a company that Gerry Weiner acts as an Executive Director, Global Relations, Partnerships, and Customer Satisfaction to, is not the only company that offers Start-up visas, but it has been in operation for almost five years and has assisted many applicants to achieve Permanent Residence status. APS Global Partners works with Canadian Immigration Lawyers and Consultants to obtain a Letter of Support from a designated organization authorized by the Government of Canada. Once a Letter of Support is issued an Application for Permanent Residence can be filed. It grows the economy, it puts new initiative in your economy, you can go into parts of your country that are being underserved.
Working with Immigration Lawyers and Business Consultants, potential applicants are prequalified to participate in the program. From a business point of view, there are very few competitors to this program. Citizenship-by-investment is not a competitor, but EB-5 might be, although, it’s a lot more expensive – our program is about a fifth of the price of an EB-5 visa.
In Canada innovation thrive
Today Canada is at the forefront with the start-up visa, a little behind Israel, Russia, the United States, but catching up very fast – Canada knows how to do it. There will always be groups of people looking for second passports. There is population overgrowth. There’s a lack of opportunities in many parts of the world. Right now, there’s a huge opportunity with a Start-Up visa program because some countries have a large, educated population with nowhere to go, they have very limited job opportunities back home. There’s also going to be this constant push from the south to the north and less developed countries to the developed world. That’s not going to slow down until there’s some kind of weighing of the factors. This is the world we live in.
Mr. Gerry Weiner and his new role
Start-up Visa Canada looks at individuals and their families as well as the creativity and innovation of their plans to determine if they are suitable for the Start-up Visa. Gerry Weiner found his new role to assist prospects to meet the requirements of the Start-up Visa program and achieve results. Start-up visa was a pilot program, driven by great results, became one of the best options out there, which provides permanent and irrevocable PR status.
