How long does the Startup Visa take?

The honest answer is: it depends heavily on one step that's outside IRCC's control — securing a Letter of Support from a designated Canadian venture capital fund, angel investor group, or business incubator. Every Start-Up Visa application requires this letter, and how quickly you get one depends on how compelling your pitch is and how responsive the designated organization is, not on a fixed government timeline. This is usually the longest and least predictable stage of the entire process.

Once you have a valid Letter of Support and submit a complete application, PR processing follows IRCC's published service standards for the program, which shift periodically. A temporary work permit is often available alongside the PR application, letting you come to Canada and begin operating the business while the permanent residence decision processes in the background — which is a meaningful advantage over waiting outside the country with no income-generating activity.

Because processing-time figures change with each IRCC update, and because the Letter of Support timeline varies so much by applicant, Mahyar will walk through realistic expectations for your specific situation during a free assessment rather than quoting a generic number that may already be stale.