Immigrating a Partner / Visit and Work

[RoseTech]

Hello,

I have a weird situation. Myself and 4 others started a tech startup that was recently incorporated. 2 of our partners are American citizens. This summer we would like to have both of them come up and visit. While they are here they would like to be able to help us with setting up servers, client relations, sourcing equipment etc. They do a lot of the work besides the physical work already from the USA, and they would not be employed by the company nor would they be payed as one.

Do we need a work permit in order to have them assist with anything on Canadian soil? Or are they visiting under the NAFTA umbrella or others?

They would also like to immigrate to Canada eventually so we would like to start that process asap as we understand it can take a long time.

Any assistance would be helpful.

 

[scylla]

To answer your immigration question, they should look into the Federal Skilled Worker / Express Entry immigration program. Details are below:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry.html

Being part of the tech startup won't give them any advantages in the process. They will have to qualify based on their existing work experience, education, language test results, etc.

Canada does have a Start Up immigration program. However your scenario unfortunately doesn't fit the requirements of the program.