Background
Tahamina Sharif, Kazal Kanti Dan and Swapan Kumar Bairagi, citizens of Bangladesh, co-founded DetectFresh, a British Columbia corporation focused on developing a mobile application. They applied for permanent residence under the Start-Up Business Class in February 2023.
After an initial refusal and a discontinued judicial-review proceeding that resulted in redetermination, a new immigration officer sought further evidence about whether DetectFresh was a qualifying business. The applicants submitted materials concerning Vancouver office space, an office-administrator job offer, corporate services, taxes, meetings, networking, mentorship and a LinkedIn marketing strategy. The officer nevertheless refused their applications on December 4, 2024, finding insufficient evidence that essential operations would occur in Canada or that the applicants intended to manage an active business from Canada.
The Court’s Holding
The Federal Court dismissed the consolidated applications for judicial review. Justice Ahmed held that the officer’s decisions were reasonable, transparent and justified under the Start-Up Business Class framework in section 98.06 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
The officer considered both DetectFresh’s existing activities and the applicants’ forward-looking intention to operate in Canada, as required by subsection 98.06(2). It was reasonable to give decisive weight to the absence of evidence showing progress on the proposed mobile application—the central component of the business plan—or implementation of the stated social-media strategy. The officer also adequately explained why the office, employment, networking and other documents did not demonstrate active operations or a genuine intention to conduct operations in Canada.
The Court rejected the argument that the officer improperly required Canadian collaborators. Potential collaborations were addressed in the applicants’ own proposed next steps, and the officer treated that issue as only one part of a holistic assessment. The applicants’ challenge ultimately invited the Court to reweigh the evidence, which is not the reviewing court’s role on reasonableness review.
Key Takeaways
- A Start-Up Business Class applicant may qualify based on a genuine intention to satisfy the business requirements after receiving a permanent resident visa, but that intention must be supported by evidence.
- Evidence of incorporation, office arrangements, hiring plans, networking and mentorship may be insufficient when applicants cannot demonstrate progress on the central product or operations described in their business plan.
- On reasonableness review, the Federal Court will not reweigh business evidence where the immigration officer considered the relevant materials and explained why they did not establish current or intended Canadian operations.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that Start-Up Visa applicants need concrete evidence connecting preparatory steps to the actual development and launch of their proposed Canadian business. Formal corporate arrangements and general promotional or networking activity do not necessarily prove that essential operations will be conducted in Canada.
It also clarifies that an officer satisfies the forward-looking requirement by genuinely assessing an applicant’s stated intentions and supporting conduct; the officer need not accept those intentions when the record lacks evidence of meaningful implementation. No question was certified.