In the world of investment immigration, the true measure of a partner’s value is not just the ability to identify opportunities, but the courage to recognize when a path has become a dead end. For years, the Canada Start-up Visa (SUV) was hailed as a premier gateway for global talent, but it eventually fell victim to its own popularity—and more specifically, to a "pop layer" of the industry that prioritized volume over validity.
Many practitioners and consultants began treating the SUV as a passive "backdoor" to Canada, flooding the system with "shell" companies, inactive ventures, and mismatched founding teams who had little intention of actually launching a business. This widespread abuse turned a program meant for high growth innovation into a congested queue of bogus applications, forcing the government to impose drastic caps and ultimately leading to the structural collapse we see today.
For many months, our team has been meticulously monitoring this landscape. While much of the industry continued to promote the SUV to unsuspecting clients, we looked at the data—the mounting backlogs, the shifting quotas, and the increasingly erratic processing timelines—and we saw a storm brewing. Today, as official processing times for many applicants stretch toward a staggering ten-year horizon, I can say with absolute conviction: We were right.
The Decision to Step Back
A leader’s responsibility is to protect their clients from avoidable risk. Recognizing the growing instability and the reputational damage caused by those who exploited the program, we made the strategic decision to cease filing new applications and stop submitting projects under this stream. We refused to place our clients’ futures in a decade-long queue characterized by "hard" deadlines and policy unpredictability. To file an application in such an environment is not providing a service; it is selling a false sense of security. At our firm, we do not just manage files—we manage the life plans of families who trust us with their legacy.
A New Strategic Direction: Customized Provincial Solutions
Instead of tethering our clients to a stalled federal program, we pivoted. As a Finance Immigration Product Architect, my role is to engineer solutions that withstand policy shifts. We turned our focus toward Provincial Government structures, where transparency and local economic impact carry more weight.
We have dedicated our resources to structuring and designing customized projects that are built for the reality of 2026. These are not "off-the-shelf" solutions; they are bespoke business models engineered to align with the specific needs of individual Canadian provinces. By working within these frameworks, we offer our clients:
- Predictability: Clearer timelines and direct communication with provincial authorities.
- Alignment: Projects that solve local economic gaps, making them inherently more valuable to immigration officers.
- Security: A structured path that avoids the "black hole" of federal backlogs.
About the Author
Michel Verdy is a Retired Canadian Bank Executive, a renowned Finance Immigration Product Architect, and the CEO and Founder of VGlobal Partners, established in 2011 in Hong Kong. He also serves as the President and Co-Founder of the Quebec Vietnam Association (Association Québec Vietnam).
With over 30 years of experience in the North American financial sector, Michel has facilitated over $3.7 billion CAD in direct investments since 1993, helping more than 10,000 families achieve their global citizenship goals. Having held senior leadership roles at major institutions—including BMO, Scotiabank (ScotiaMcLeod), and Laurentian Bank Securities—he brings institutional banking rigor to the immigration landscape. Based in Vietnam since 2021, he is a key strategic advisor for high-net worth individuals and governments seeking high-integrity, expert-led expansion into the Canadian market.