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In 2013, the Canadian Government launched the Start-up Visa Program to attract foreign entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build businesses in Canada that:
Before being eligible to apply for the Start-up Visa in Canada, businesses must first get support and approval from one or more designated organizations vetted by the Canadian Government.
Here’s where we come in!
At Spring Activator, we’re one such designated organization, passionate about empowering and developing entrepreneurs through our IMPACT Startup Visa Accelerator (ISV) Program.
Three times a year, we select up to 15 impact-driven startups from applicants worldwide who want to make a difference while making Canada their home base. We then coach and develop these entrepreneurs and serve as the designated business incubator supporting their Canadian Permanent Residency applications.
How do we stand out? At Spring, we added an additional layer to the admission process—one that’s a core feature of who we are and what we stand for. That’s IMPACT!
A key component of our admission criteria revolves around ensuring applicants and their business models are motivated by having a positive impact, whether social or environmental, directly through their product or service or in how they operate. As such, our accelerator program is the only one that is impact-focused and one of the few that accepts businesses from all industries.
We work closely with the companies for four months, helping them:
What makes the Impact Startup Visa Program more unique is that it doesn’t end with the last day of sessions. Spring’s broad network of staff, alumni, and key players in the Canadian startup and investment ecosystem continue to help founders throughout the lifespans of their companies and beyond.
"Spring has endless tools such as content, mentors and connections—they’re always at your disposal to help you."
“The IMPACT Start Up Visa helped me develop important aspects of my business such as product design, customer discovery, business management and more. Through the connections made possible by Spring, I was able to network and get invaluable feedback from industry experts.”
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, and as a global team we’d like to extend this acknowledgement to all those who have historically stewarded and nurtured the lands we live, work, and play on today.