ARCHIVED – Speaking notes for The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Thank you very much, Kevin, for being here and for your leadership in Canada’s economy and helping to finance brilliant young entrepreneurs in Canada and create wealth for our economy. It’s great to be here in downtown Toronto, Canada’s chief economic hub.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been talking with Canadians across the country about transformational changes we want to bring to our immigration system, changes that’ll generate economic growth and long-term prosperity for Canada. Companies like O’Leary Ventures play an important role in our economy. They’re always on the lookout for the next big idea, the idea that will succeed. And, when they find it, they help to create new businesses and new jobs for Canadians. At the same time, they help others to achieve their dreams along the way.

If you walk down any block in one of Canada’s cities, you’ll see in the storefront and business windows some of the people in this country who are working hard to achieve their dreams. I’m sure you’ll also find that many of the businesses along that street, particularly in cities like Toronto, were started by immigrants.

Indeed, some of Canada’s most successful businesses were started by immigrants who came to our country with nothing more than a dream, a strong work ethic and a determination to succeed.

Take, for example, Canada’s largest electronics retailer, Future Shop, which was founded by my friend Hassan Khosrowshahi, an immigrant from Iran. Also Canada’s largest telecoms company, Research in Motion, was founded by Turkish-born Mike Lazaridis. There’s no doubt that immigrants are amongst our most creative and successful entrepreneurs and investors.

And that’s one of the things that are so great about immigrants who come to Canada. They’re people who’ve left behind what was familiar to them in order to take a huge chance on an uncertain future in pursuit of their dreams and opportunity.

Now many immigrants arrive in Canada with this type of entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs first need to dream big and they can’t be afraid to take the risks needed in order to make their fresh ideas a reality. At the same time, successful entrepreneurs will realize they need that particular edge that’ll enable them to overcome their competitors. We’d like to attract more of these bright innovators and entrepreneurs like Mike Lazaridis and Hassan Khosrowshahi of the world, those who can create companies in high tech and other valued – value-added businesses that have the potential to create hundreds of jobs over their lifetime.

But, to date, Canada has been underselling itself. We need to overcome the fact that we’ve lost our edge in competition from many of the most talented people in the global labour market, and we’ve lost it to countries that have a much more responsive and faster immigration system like Australia and New Zealand.

Last July, the World Bank ranked Canada as the third best place in the world to start a new business after New Zealand and Australia. Yet Canada lags behind the United States and other peer countries when it comes to technology start-ups and immigrants starting successful new businesses. In the United States, half of the top 50 venture capital backed companies are founded by immigrants. We must do a better job of attracting entrepreneurs and investors to Canada. We can’t afford to lose out in the competition for foreign entrepreneurs among immigrant-receiving countries.

We must proactively target a new type of immigrant entrepreneur: people who have the potential to build innovative companies that can compete on a global scale and create jobs for Canadians.

Our Immigrant Entrepreneur Program was first designed in the 1970s and I think everyone would agree that a lot has changed in the business world since then. The program simply hasn’t kept pace with the demands of our changing economy. And that’s why we must design a new program that best serves our economic interests.

With that in mind, I’m delighted today to announce that we will begin consultations with industry associations and other stakeholders on whether to develop a Start-up Visa Program for innovative entrepreneurs. While many immigrants undoubtedly arrive here with a strong will and determination to succeed, Canada’s business environment may be unfamiliar to them. Many newcomers, therefore, require outside help in order to successfully navigate our business landscape.

Linking immigrant entrepreneurs with private sector organizations, organizations that have experience and expertise with start-ups, is important to ensure that immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs do succeed. It also ensures that innovators with great ideas are able to overcome some of the hurdles that might prevent them from translating their ideas into business in Canada.

Take, for example, a young entrepreneur who has a great idea for a high tech start-up in Canada. They may not have the capital to come to Canada as an investor or an entrepreneur and they might not qualify through our points system, but the start-up visa could help those folks with great ideas to come here and contribute to our economy. Once again, we have a competitive interest in developing this program.

Now the United States has already tabled legislation to create a start-up visa, but it has not yet passed. The creation of such a program in Canada will give us the edge we need in order to help attract the world’s best and brightest talent.

When I speak to people across the country about immigration, many often think of it simply as a way to fill jobs and labour shortages for positions that already exist. But we can’t overlook the value of entrepreneurship and innovation that immigrants also bring with them.

Ladies and gentlemen, economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity remain the top priorities of Prime Minister Harper’s government. The drivers of economic growth and job creation, the way in which business is conducted and the free movement of people and capital all require business immigration programs that will better support our economic development. And that’s why our government’s committed to strengthening the immigration system to make it truly proactive, targeted, fast and efficient in a way that will sustain Canada’s economic growth and deliver prosperity for the future.

A couple of days ago, I also announced our intent to improve upon our Investor Immigrant Program, to encourage more active foreign investments in the Canadian economy. For too long, we have been underselling ourselves. As Mr. O’Leary said, Canada is now one of the most respected and desirable places to which to immigrate, in which to invest, and in which to create new businesses around the globe. In fact, Forbes Magazine said we’re now the top country in the world in which to invest. And so we need to align our immigration programs with this new economic reality.

As I’ve said many times, there are millions of millionaires who would love the opportunity to immigrate to Canada. We should be doing more to generate economic benefit and durable and lasting economic benefit from those prospective investors. And there are millions of brilliant young people around the world who are going to create incalculable wealth through their innovation and our new immigration system, partly through this Start-up Visa, which will open the door to Canada and bring them here as quickly as possible. We want to move from the slow and rigid immigration system of the past which had declining economic results, to the fast and flexible immigration system of the future which will be an engine for growth, job creation and prosperity.

We’re happy to take any questions you might have