Business immigration lawyer, starting a businessStarting from zero,
but not in the dark.
Starting a business
With no history,
everything rests on the project.
Starting a business from abroad means asking the authorities to believe in a company that does not exist yet. They assess a real, costed project consistent with your experience. A generic plan is spotted immediately.
This is where our dual competence matters. We do not only prepare the immigration stream: we incorporate the company, allocate the share capital, check the permits, the lease and the contracts, and make sure the project holds legally as well as on paper.
A poorly built structure can compromise an immigration file, and the reverse is equally true. Both streams are built together, from the same documents and on the same timetable. If your project is instead to take over an operating business, see buying a business. To decide between the two routes, compare streams 2 and 3 of the Entrepreneur Program.
Business programs fall under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations, along with Quebec’s own programs, whose conditions change regularly.
What we do
Creating the company
and obtaining the status,
in one movement.
Eligibility review
Applicable federal and Quebec programs, requirements as to experience, net worth and active participation. Some projects fit no business program at all: better to know early.
Incorporating the company
Federal or Quebec regime, share capital, ownership, the applicant’s role in governance. The structure must match what the program requires, not only what is tax-efficient. See incorporation and structuring.
Setting up operations
Commercial lease, municipal and sector permits, registration with the Quebec enterprise register, first contracts and first hires. These are the concrete proof that the project is actually starting.
Business plan and coherence
The plan is a business document, not a form. We check its legal coherence: leases, permits, contracts, financing structure, realism of the timetable. Our partner network includes business plan writers and market analysts where the project calls for them.
Undertakings and follow-up
Undertakings given to the authorities create verifiable obligations. We frame their drafting and monitor their performance.
Coordinating professionals
Accountant, tax specialist, broker, sector consultant. The file moves faster when everyone works from the same version of the facts, and the firm remains your single point of contact.
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked most.
Must the company be incorporated before filing?
It depends on the program. Some expect a company already incorporated and operating, others accept an undertaking to do so within a set period after arrival. The sequence is decided before filing, because it drives the form of the company and the allocation of share capital.
Does the business plan really matter for a start-up project?
Yes, even more than for an acquisition: there is no financial history to show, so the plan carries the whole demonstration. A plan that ignores required permits, the necessary lease or actual financing weakens the whole file.
Which corporate form should a start-up project use?
Federal or Quebec corporation, direct ownership or through a holding company, the place of any partners: the choice follows the program involved, the active role required of the applicant, and what you plan to do with the business afterwards.
What if my project is to buy an existing business instead?
That is a different path, which we handle under buying a business: the demonstration then rests on the seller’s financial statements, due diligence and the purchase agreement rather than on projections.
Two useful readings before incorporating: federal or provincial incorporation and the real cost of incorporating. For the structure itself, see incorporation and structuring.
A start-up project in Quebec?
A first meeting confirms eligibility, settles the form of the company and sets the order of operations between the corporate stream and the immigration stream.
Book a consultationBusiness immigration
The other services in this area.
A file rarely fits in a single category. Here is what the firm handles around this subject.
Insights
To go further.
Three readings that extend this subject, if you would rather read up before speaking with us.
A question about this process?
Describe your situation in a few lines. We usually reply within one business day.