After moving to Canada from India, Steeson Mathew has spent the last four years building parking systems with AI for Canadian cities.
He directs a startup called Loop Parking, with the support of the Hamilton innovation factory. He said he has contracts in Newmarket and Vaughan, the interest of an important telecommunications company and has represented Canada in a commercial mission in Dubai.
But Mathew is still waiting for a thing to really allow his life here to prosper: permanent residence (PR).
It is one of the thousands of immigrant entrepreneurs trapped in the growing delays in the Canada Start Visa Program (SUV), a road that once promoted as a quick route for citizenship for immigrant entrepreneurs with “skills and potential.”
Immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada (IRCC) told CBC News starting Friday, more than 42,000 applications are currently in the system. Of these, 16,370 have been in that system for at least two years, IRCC said.
“The technology is ready,” Mathew said, referring to his parking solution. “But without [permanent residency, or PR]We can’t make the next jump. “
A request that circulates online, with more than 400 signatures until Friday, urges the federal government to act.
The petition was launched by a Visa applicant based in Toronto. It makes the IRCC accelerate long -standing public relations applications, implements case climbing options for entrepreneurs with proven commercial contributions and provides transparency around the deadlines.
‘Banks will simply not be lent to someone like me’
Run in 2013 as a pilot and it became permanent in 2018, the SUV program aims to attract people from other countries to build innovative businesses and employment creators in Canada.
But for many entrepreneurs, reality has stayed well below the promise.
Two co -founders with Hamilton headquarters of a food application share Mathew’s frustration. Allison Le and Ryo Wu co -founded Cooco, an AI platform that helps homes reduce food waste. They chose Canada over the United States and Australia due to the rapid public relations line of the SUV program, they said.
When they requested in October 2022, the IRCC website indicated a processing time of 18 months. That period has come and come. For them, delays have remodeled everything from their commercial plans to their financial future.
“We base our initial financing plan on that 18 -month promise,” Wu said. “Now our funds have reached their limit, and we cannot raise more because we are still temporary residents.”
Several businessmen shared with CBC News that investors will not compromise without permanent status. Accessing loans from Canadian banks has also proven difficult.
Mathew requested the SUV in August 2021 and has faced similar barriers. Despite signed city contracts, he says that being a temporary resident blocks access to both risk capital and credit.
“I am the biggest shareholder of my company, and I still can’t get a credit line,” he said. “Banks will simply not lend someone like me.”
Some public subsidies and accelerators also require public relations or citizenship, excluding both the loop parking and the coocate of greater support. Wu said they have had to trust a team mainly abroad and delay hiring in Canada.
Mathew says that his company is ready to climb (they have prosecuted 18 million images of the real world of parking spaces in Ontario and are being marketed throughout the country, but it is being held. It also avoided following other ways for permanent residence because the SUV was framed as a fast route.
‘This is stability’
While companies remain in limbo, the personal cost is increasing.
Wu and tell him that the emotional tension of the uncertain state is carried. Their work permits expires in early 2026, and without public relations updates, they are preparing for another renewal.
“It’s not just about business,” Wu said. “It’s about stability, knowing that you can plan your life here.”
For Mathew, the toll has been more steep.
He has not seen his family at home in six years, losing his brother’s wedding due to travel risk. His wife, whose visa took three years to approve, joined him in Canada recently. They have postponed to start a family.
“We got married six years ago, and it seems that we are waiting for life to begin,” he said.
To reduce costs, Mathew moved from Kitchener-Waterloo to Hanover, Ontario, more than three hours from Toronto, and now shares homes with his brother. It still leads to the city a dozen times a month for meetings.
“The only time I left the country was to represent Canada,” he said. “That is irony.”
Backlog changed program
The SUV program offers public relations to immigrant entrepreneurs who are accepted in a Canadian business incubator, a group of Angel investors or a Venture capital fund, known as designated organizations.
These organizations must support the startup. In theory, once accepted, the founders receive a work permit that allows them to live and work in Canada. They can then request public relations under the SUV while building their businesses in Canada.
“The number of SUV applications far exceeds the number of planned admission spaces, which has led to a longer waiting for orders and waiting times,” IRCC said in a statement sent by email.
As of July, official processing times are at 51 months, or more than four years, according to the IRCC website.
Wu says that when they continue, they are only told that their file is “within the timeline.”
“It’s a moving goal,” Mathew said. “When I requested, the site said from 18 to 21 months. Then there were 33, then 40, now 51. There are no real updates.”
Even when IRCC contacted him, in 2024, requesting updated documents, Mathew said they did not ask about the progress of their company. “They just wanted to know if my paperwork was still valid.”
To address the request for orders, the government has made changes in policies.
In June 2023, the then Ministry Sean Fraser introduced three -year open work permits for SUV applicants. “It allows you to stay,” Mathew said, “but it doesn’t let you grow.”
In April 2024, Minister Mar Miller limited each designated organization, companies and incubators that support SUV applicants, 10 new companies per year and reduced the annual public relations objective of the program to 2,000 by 2025.
IRCC says that these steps are intended to “control the intake” and “mitigate waiting times.” It also introduced “prioritization criteria” for faster processing. But Mathew says that the new priority list unfairly deactivates the founders who are already in the system.
Despite the setbacks, Mathew and the Cooco team say they are still committed to building their businesses in Canada. They have created internships, works and associations, everything while waiting.
“We are not asking for shortcuts,” Wu said. “Justice just justice, a clear and transparent process.”
“These delays make Canada a less attractive destination for international founders,” Mathew said. “Canada gave us a chance. Now we just need to move forward.”
