Build your business and get your and your family's Canadian

Our unique offerings exclusively with our firm:

i) Fully licensed lawyers.

ii) Former Government of Canada Immigration Officers (Adjudicative Claims Officer).

iii) Former United Nations and World Trade Organization representatives for Canada.

iv) Meticulous legal planning and risk management, for your file for all refusal points and legal challenges.

v) Top class business plan and funding partnerships with licensed investment bankers in Toronto and New York.

vi) Top class Designated Organization partnerships for your letter of support, commitment certificate and business mentorship, networking.

vii) Unparalleled business growth support with local boards of trade.

viii) Profile provision on our podcasts, website, social media.

Seaker Law is a licensed law firm in Toronto, Canada, with a Licensed Immigration Lawyer as its founding partner. Our founding partner was also an Adjudicative Claims Officer, or a decision maker, with the IRB (Immigration Refugee Board) prior to starting his own practice.

Seaker Law has offices in Toronto, Dubai, and agents for global trade around the world. We are a white glove firm, that prides ourselves on building bridges and new business opportunities. 

Our firm’s team has experience working in the Federal Government of Canada’s Immigration Department, the United Nations headquarters in New York, the World Trade Organization in Geneva, and operate global trading houses, servicing entrepreneurs around the world.

Our firm sits as Vice Chair on the Mississauga Board of Trade’s International Trade Committee and has been recognized as instrumental with his entrepreneurial clients’ growth.

 One distribution client for an example has been served by our firm for 5 years, and has in that time gone from a company earning around 1 million dollars a year, to 30 million last year. We go beyond the initial legal services, and look to add value to our clients in their operational growth and high value networking.

As licensed lawyers, we provide comprehensive legal bolstering at every stage of your application, and after you become a PR (permanent resident), and citizen in Canada. We have requisitioned training documents and policy guidelines that instruct officers on how to make decisions on their SUV files and have reviewed caselaw related to the SUV program. 

We have meticulously drafted procedural fairness letters (letters which require an opportunity for an applicant’s lawyer to explain or manage a concern in an application prior to its refusal) and have closely vetted any designated organization and business plan developer we work with.

Our motto is, we broker opportunity, and provide a white glove quality service. We have and will refuse files in a candid manner when we can see areas of high friction or legal instability. We work with sharp diligence and experienced minds to foresee legal issues on otherwise strong applications and get ahead of the curb with the officer to address them.

For applicants typically beyond the age of 35 who may find it difficult to qualify for PR under the Express Entry system, or, for applicants who do not wish to wait for the unpredictable draws, CRS scores for Express Entry PR, and who have strong business acumen, the SUV program

provides a direct avenue for PR, and Citizenship.

It is meant for those individuals with a high net worth or capitalization, proven business capacity and capability. The official government posted approval rating is around 70%.

78% – for start-ups that are supported by business incubators;

80% – for start-ups that are supported by angel investor networks;

43% – for start-ups that are supported by venture capital funds.

We typically only work with clients with their own capitalization, which has an over 80% approval rating publicly, and Seaker Law currently maintains a 100% approval rating. 

The SUV program allows for entrepreneurs and established businessmen and women to open a business in Canada, get a letter of support and coaching from a designated organization that will

affirm to the Government of Canada that their business has a viable plan, and then leverage that established new business for their PR and citizenship application.

The benefits for the SUV program, is that applicants receive their PR right after approval. There are no stream for draws, such as with select Provincial Nominee Programs inside of the Express Entry system. You have the guarantee of PR and Citizenship once successful.

·  Under Subsection 12(2), you may acquire PR under the economic class of immigration based on your ability to become economically established in Canada. 

·  Under Subsection 14.1(1), the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration may give instructions (Ministerial Instructions) on classes of PR under select programs like the SUV program and provide rules governing such classes. 

·  As seen below, a summary of Ministerial Instructions has been provided. 

·  Under Part 6, Division 2, the IRPR includes sections 98.01 to 98.13 which speak about economic class of immigration including the SUV program.

·  Under section 98.01, a person may become a PR under the SUV program based on their ability to become economically established in Canada, and who meet the requirements under 98.01(2) and 98.06.

Section 98.01(2) requires:

i)  Obtained commitment certificate from a designated organization; 

ii)  Obtained your language proficiency (level 5 minimum CLB);

iii)  Completed at least one year of post-secondary education in good standing; and 

iv)  Having enough transferable and available funds.

·  Section 98.06 speaks about what a qualifying business is:

i)  One where an applicant provides active and ongoing management from within Canada; 

ii)  For which an essential part of its operations is conducted inside Canada;

iii)  Incorporated in Canada; and 

iv)  Has an ownership structure that complies with subsection 98.06(3).

·  Notwithstanding the above requirements, under Section 98.06(2), if a business fails to meet any of the requirements in 98.06(1)(a) to (c) is nevertheless a qualifying business if the applicant intends to have it meet those requirements after they have been issued a permanent resident visa. 

·  Under paragraph 89(b) if the applicant entered one or more of the transactions primarily for the purpose of acquiring a status or benefit under the IRPA, they may be refused.

·  Subsection 2(1) of the Ministerial Instructions established the SUV class of PR immigration and defines the class as “foreign nationals who have the ability to become economically established in Canada and meet the requirements of this section.” 

·  To qualify under the Ministerial Instructions, you must have:

i)  Obtained a commitment certificate (letter of support that is sent to the IRCC from your designated organization);

ii)  Obtained your language proficiency (level 5 minimum CLB);

iii)  Completed at least one year of post-secondary education in good standing; and 

iv)  Having sufficient transferable and available funds.

·  Per section 6 of the Ministerial Instructions, the requisite commitment from a designated organization and the applicant would include:

i)  Commitment certificate; 

ii)  Letter of support; 

iii)  Documents confirming the applicant’s participation in the program (mentorship); 

iv)  Terms of agreement; 

v)  Due diligence assessment of the applicant and their proposed business. 

·  *Under section 2(5) of the Ministerial Instructions, if an applicant is primarily participating for the purpose of acquiring a status or privilege under the IRPA, rather than for engaging in the identified business activity they may be refused.

1 - Business Development 

We receive your resume(s) and begin “ideation.” Ideation is the process of putting together a business plan that would work for the purposes of this class of immigration. The business plan is a complex, commercial presentation that the application is predicated on. This must be approved by a “designated organization” which are registered businesses authorized by the government to provide a seal of approval on the viability of your business. 

The designated organization then provides a required “letter of support” (more on the letter of support below in point 4) depending on a clear and persuasive business plan. Upon providing a letter of support, the designated organization shall also send a "commitment certificate" to the Government, assuring them of the viability of your start-up. We work closely with them to tailor it to the immigration law aspect of the application. The letter of support is required for an SUV application. 

The commitment certificate provided to the IRCC includes information about the designated organization, the applicant, the team applying together, the type of business and activities planned, the business structure, further background information, and work permits for the essential applicant(s). The commitment certificate is valid for 6 months within which the PR application must be completed, and where required, a work permit applied for. 

Different ways to get the required letter of support 

a)  With a designated organization incubator (they will assess your business plan and due diligence documents, then provide incubation training for your company’s success).

b)  With a designated organization angel investor, or venture capitalist (they will assess your past activity, revenues, profit and typically require proof of market success).

2- Language Requirements 

You must have a minimum language score of CLB 5. You do not need to complete this until the SUV application is already sent, in other words this may be accomplished after securing your Letter of Support. A CLB 5 is among the lowest benchmark scores you can achieve. 

You may take either CELPIP, IELTS, or PTE depending on what, when and where it would be available in your region.

3- A qualified business 

The IRPR under section 98.06 defines a qualified business for the purposes of the SUV program as follows: 

Qualifying Business under the Statute:

98.06 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 98.01(2)(d), a qualifying business with respect to an applicant is one

• (a) in which the applicant provides active and ongoing management from within Canada;
• (b) for which an essential part of its operations is conducted in Canada;
• (c) that is incorporated in Canada; and
• (d) that has an ownership structure that complies with the percentages established under subsection (3).

Exception — intention

(2) A business that fails to meet one or more of the requirements of paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) is nevertheless a qualifying business if the applicant intends to have it meet those requirements after they have been issued a permanent resident visa.

To qualify for the SUV, your business must qualify with the following share and ownership requirements 

i) Each Applicant must hold 10% or more of the total voting rights;

ii) the applicant and designated organization must hold more than 50% of the total voting rights. 

The business may be incorporated either federally, or in a province such as Ontario, where no residency requirements exist under the OBCA. The qualifying business must provide active and ongoing management of their business from inside Canada, and ensure that an essential part of the business operations happen inside of Canada. Seaker Law will incorporate the company for you. 

Further, prior to receiving the letter of support, due diligence must be met and passed by the designated organization. The due diligence involves: 

i)  Constating documents (articles of incorporation etc.);

ii)  Sourcing of funds documents;

iii)  ID documentation;

iv)  Further documents as required.

The business must have an element of innovation and must be scalable. The requirements of the economic establishment capacity are found under subsection 98.01(2) IRPR, highlight what general requirements the business must demonstrate. 

98.01 (2) A foreign national is a member of the start-up business class if:

• (a) they have obtained a commitment that is made by one or more entities designated under subsection 98.03(1), that is less than six months old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and that meets the requirements of section 98.04;
• (b) they have submitted the results of a language test that is approved under subsection 102.3(4), which results must be provided by an organization or institution that is designated under that subsection, be less than two years old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and indicate that the foreign national has met at least benchmark level 5 in either official language for all four language skill areas, as set out in the Canadian Language Benchmarks or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, as applicable;
• (c) they have, excluding any investment made by a designated entity into their business, transferable and available funds unencumbered by debts or other obligations of an amount that is equal to one half of the amount identified, in the most recent edition of the publication concerning low income cut-offs published annually by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act, for urban areas of residence of 500,000 persons or more, as the minimum amount of before-tax annual income that is necessary to support a group of persons equal in number to the total number of the applicant and their family members; and
• (d) they have started a qualifying business within the meaning of section 98.06.

4. Letter of Support

As mentioned above, a letter of support from a designated organization is required for this program. In summary, a designated organization authorized by the Government of Canada is to provide the Government a commitment certificate, which states the viability of your business in Canada, and provide essential business training and mentorship. The commitment certificate they send the government is a critical part of the application evaluation process. 

Per the Operational Guidelines that IRCC officers use to review applications, business incubators must provide sufficient combined information within a term sheet, or client agreement, and that the commitment certificate includes several items such as the legal and financial structure of the business, the due diligence procedures, incubator program growth, and so on. Seaker Law has meticulous IRCC training manual-based checklists to thoroughly vet the sufficiency of commitment certificates. 

5. Financial Capacity 

The SUV is not meant for those with low capitalization. There are financial bars that must be demonstrated for family member support. As of March 2024, if you have 1 family member, you must bring at least $13,757, and if you have up to 7, $36,407. These LICO (low-income cut off) numbers are by no means sufficient per se to qualify you, and they are subject to increase and change every year. 

Further, financial capital available is essential to satisfy the officer that your business could survive. We suggest having $200,000 in a bank anywhere for business purposes with the primary applicant. 

Settlement funds 

Per the operational guidelines and ministerial instructions IRCC officers will review your file and analyze settlement funds with the following: 

-  Have sufficient funds available for settlement in Canada, at the time of the application and when the application is finalized. The funds must be:

-  available and transferable;

-  unencumbered by debts or other obligations;

-  sufficient to support the initial establishment in Canada;

-  must exclude any investment made by a designated entity into the business. 

-  You must have a bare minimum of (as of March 2024) $13,757- 36,407 depending on family size, and we suggest a bare minimum of $200,000 available in capitalization for the company. 

Proof of funds per the operational guidelines IRCC officers will review your file with, require official letters from any banks or financial institutions where they are keeping money. The letters must include a number of requirements, which have been compiled in a checklist drafted by Seaker Law per IRCC training manuals, including but not limited to account information, contact information, and bank information requirements. 

6. Work in Canada while the application is under review 

While your application for PR is being processed under the SUV, you may apply for a temporary work permit authorizing you to enter and work in Canada, and get started on building your business. 

The SUV program specific work permit can only be completed after you have applied for PR under the program, and is valid for 1 year. 

Unlike other work permits, the SUV work permit will come alongside form IMM5667 wherein the designated organization that has provided its letter of support to you, will need to explain how you are to provide significant economic benefit, are urgently needed, and essential. You will be able to also sponsor your spouse and dependents, and they may also receive their work or study permits provided sufficient financial backing. 

Under the SUV work permit, you are both the employer and employee. This means that you will apply for your work permit in 2 steps. First, you will create and submit an offer of employment for yourself. We will assist you in completing forms in the Employer Portal, or if issues arise, we will email the IRCC. Second, there will be online fees payable. After which, there will be the actual work permit application, wherein you will gather the documents you need depending on your country of origin. 

A work permit may be updated and extended based on the evaluation of the PR application. As such these should be completed within tandem of each other in consideration of the 6-month validity period of the commitment certificate.

7. Why applications may get delayed or refused, what is required from you

With any immigration or legal program, there is no guarantee of success. There is a ~80% approval rating for the SUV program, and Seaker Law has had 0 rejections thus far. This is because we vet our applicants deeply, do not take SUV files of low success metrics, and pay extra, at times twice the amount of others, for the highest quality of designated organization incubators available. 

Our associated incubators have sat on the IRCC peer review board, and our founding partner lawyer was an Adjudicative Claims Officer at the Immigration Refugee Board before starting his private practice. We provide a level of diligence and understanding of Government requirements and serve with good consciousness only. 

Reason 1- Lack of business activity 

If you show the government, you only want immigration and are not engaging with the business, would be grounds for not qualifying for this program. Consistent engagement in the business and active involvement is key. Before deciding on your application, the IRCC officer may interview you, and observe how dedicated you are to the business in Canada. When the IRCC concludes the only reason the business exists is for immigration purposes and not a bona fide engagement with the Canadian economy, it would hold it as a ground of refusal. Individuals who are overseas while the SUV is processing, must demonstrate that they have actively been developing their business from abroad.

Reason 2- Business plans generic and unconvincing

When generic, cookie cutter, unconvincing, unsubstantiated business plans land on the desk of an officer, they will naturally have concerns the applicant is not serious about the economic intent of the program and is instead simply using it as a springboard for immigration purposes only. We ensure your business plans are made by licensed professional investment bankers Toronto and New York. Our partners’ plans are hand crafted with direct and empirical financials placed in, unlike other providers who may produce AI generated or template made products. As seen in the case law sections, Seaker Law has reviewed files which were rejected because of poor business plans and engagement, including low quality logos and marketing. 

ways to bolster evidence of business activity 

·  Intellectual property protections (patents, copyrights, licenses, registrations).

·  Showing letters of intent for potential sales. 

·  Showing meetings booked with partners, active agreements being signed, or memorandum of understandings. 

·  Developing prototypes, models, architectural work for your start-up.

·  Building websites, email accounts, showing emails going out and coming in.

·  Bids for procurement, and offers of engagement, sales, or partnership with companies in Canada. 

Other reasons 

·  Insufficient capital.

·  Applicant has little to no control or has insufficient equity in the business.

·  Most or all the applicants are only related to each other, and lack relevant experience or knowledge.

·  There is no intellectual property brought into the project and it looks very "cookie cutter." 

·  The designated organization has charged unusually high fees.

·  The management team has limited to no start-up or related experience 

·  The applicants fail to provide evidence confirming their essential role in the company 

·  There is a mismatch or contradiction between the LOS granted to your company from the Designated organization and the commitment certificate they issued to the IRCC. 

·  Failing to conduct adequate or sufficient security checks, being designated a security risk to Canada, or being on a sanctions list;

·  Misrepresentation: over inflating or lying about your capacity, experience, existing companies, or any pivotal or material part of your application. Misrepresentation under Section 40(1) of the IRPA, misrepresentation may result in not only a refusal of your application, however also a bar for 5 years to Canada. 

·  Unresolved medical and/or criminal inadmissibility.