Live in Canada while Self Employed – American Citizen

[michaelrob]

Hello,

I sure hope someone out there can provide some actionable advice.

I'm an American that has spent over a year (no more than 6 months at a time – I'm legal) in Canada. I'm self-employed, running my own web business with American clients. I have friends here, a girlfriend, and basically a life. But I'm scared one of these days upon trying to cross into Canada the border guards won't let me in (so I don't leave very often...only every 6 months to stay legal). To avoid that I want a visa. I want to stay for at least a year or two, pay taxes, and otherwise be a good resident. But here's the thing...it seems so darn difficult to get a useful visa for Canada.

I want to continue to run my business and grow it. Heck, maybe I'll eventually hire Canadians. But I can't find any good options. From some brief consulting with immigration lawyers, my options seems really disruptive:

• Study in Canada
• Get a job with a Canadian Company
• Incorporate in the USA and hire myself as an employee, and then in one year send that employee (myself) over to Canada

The first two options of course totally disrupt my life. The later option seems interesting, but from reading the Canada Immigration website, it seems more geared towards large corporations and not the small LLC I could reasonably set up in the USA. Perhaps I'm wrong on this.

Any ideas on viable options that would allow me to work on and grow my small business and enjoy living in Canada without worry about not getting through the border? Do I have to close my business and get a local job in order to live in Canada?

Thank you!

 

[scylla]

The first two options are possibilities. The last one is not. If it was that easy - everyone would simply do that. CIC closed these kinds of loop holes ages ago.

The most logical option if you are are interested in living in Canada long term is to look into options for immigrating and becoming a permanent resident. One option would be the Federal Skilled Worker program through Express Entry. Another option would be the provincial nominee program of whichever province you are spending time in. Lastly, if your relationship with your girlfriend is something long term, she can sponsor you once you are either married or common law (common law means you have lived together continuously for at least one full year).

 

[michaelrob]

@Scylla. Thanks for replying. I briefly examined the provincial nominee program, but I'm in an early stage of my work. It doesn't seem applicable to me. And the entrepreneur track requires $500k in investment...so it's not helpful in the least for bootstrapped small businesses like mine.

The study or employment routes are quite direct. Nothing tricky there. But that entails giving up my business, my time flexibility, taking a cut in income, and basically changing everything about my life. It's likely I'd leave Canada before doing that (though the gf situation complicates things). Many countries make it much easier to run a business from them (I lived in Germany for awhile and it was a peace of cake).

I have read part time study might allow me to get a visa, but the visa duration is only for the length of the study. This seems like a possibility, but would limit my movement as skipping classes for business purposes (business trip, etc.) could jeopardize my visa. So...not practical, but maybe a last resort.

As for my gf, it's a young relationship, and I don't want to put the sort of stress and expectations on it that sponsorship entails. I want my route into Canada to stand on it's own feet and merits.

Thanks!