According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Canada was ranked the most attractive country for immigrant start up founders and entrepreneurs compared to all other OECD countries. There are 24 OECD countries including the United States, France, United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia. According to the OECD report, there has been a growing interest from these countries in attracting foreign entrepreneurs to promote innovation, job creation, foreign investment and driving economies. To create favorable environments for new and innovative businesses to thrive, there must be a mix of measures to develop entrepreneurial ecosystems, stimulate research and innovation and make sure that prospective founders have access to funding and relevant human capital.

The OECD’s Indicators of Talent Attractiveness is a ranking system that focuses on attracting foreign start up founders by considering general factors and specific immigration policies that target prospective international start up founders. The system contains seven core dimensions such as market conditions and reach, access to capital and level of digitalization and connectedness.

The OECD found that Canada scored among the top 25% across all dimensions in the framework, except for ‘skills environment’. Canada, together with Australia, is the only country that offers permanent residence to all successful start-up visa applicants from day one. Further, Canada has a favourable regulatory framework for starting and running a business, a welcoming society for migrants and favorable living conditions.