September 14, 2010 Industry CanadaOffice of the Honourable Tony ClementMinister of IndustryC.D. Howe Building235 Queen StreetOttawa, Ontario K1A 0H5Dear Tony,I am writing to you today to ask for your support for Startup Visa Canada. Startup VisaCanada is an initiative designed to encourage the brightest entrepreneurial minds fromaround the world to choose Canada as the best place to start a company, which in turnwould create jobs and provide more investment opportunities in Canada. By eliminatingthe barriers that immigrant entrepreneurs currently face when trying to obtain a visa tostart a business, Startup Visa will enable Canada to remain competitive in the global startupeconomy.Currently, the federal and provincial governments’ entrepreneurial programs containminimum personal fixed asset provisions of about $300,000 and a long approval processthat make it nearly impossible for immigrant entrepreneurs to start companies here. Manyyoung entrepreneurs do not have the money or capital required to be approved under theseprograms and are denied a visa.Immigrant entrepreneurs face similar barriers when applying for a visa to start a companyin the United States. Recognizing the opportunity for economic growth, many prominententrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley spearheaded a Startup Visa initiativein the US and legislation is now pending in Congress, sponsored bysenators John Kerry(D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN). (startupvisa.com) As part of the American’s effort topersuade the government, they’ve been using Canadian entrepreneurs as their primarysource of deal flow. We would like to beat the Americans to the punch but we need yourguidance and support to take this initiative to the next level.

How it Could Work

The Startup Visa Canada Initiative would create an alternate visa program that:

●

would swap the minimum asset provisions with a minimum Canadian investment of $150,000.

●

enable qualified Immigrants to partner with pre-approved local investor(s) toexpedite their temporary work permits.

●

would require Immigrants to have at least a third equity position in their companies,be active in management and create at least 3 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs overthe course of a 2-year program period.

Step 1

We recognize that it could take up to a year to get a program like this approved by theCanadian government. Therefore, we would like to propose that while the program is beingstructured that we kick off a Pilot Program, which would include a select group of immigrant

entrepreneurs and investors. The entrepreneurs accepted into this program would be firstnominated by local investors, and then approved by you and will have received, or a firmoffer to receive, a minimum investment of $150,000 from accredited and qualified Canadianinvestors.I have attached some background information about Startup Visa in Canada and the US foryou to review.Please advise what you think the next best steps are to get this initiative launched. Weare standing by, ready to reach out to other key influencers across Canada to demonstratewidespread support for Startup Visa Canada. Sincerely, Danny Robinson