Background
Harinder Singh sought judicial review of an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officer’s January 24, 2025 decision refusing his application for a labour market impact assessment-exempt work permit under the Start-Up Business Class Program. One ground for refusal was that his Commitment Certificate–Letter of Support had expired before IRCC received the application.
A designated entity, Biomedical Commercialization Canada Inc., operating as Manitoba Technology Accelerator, had issued Singh a Letter of Support on September 1, 2023, valid until March 1, 2024. Singh used it for an initial work permit application filed in January 2024, which was refused in August 2024. He did not seek judicial review of that refusal. Instead, he filed a new application in September 2024 with the expired Letter of Support and a supplemental letter confirming the designated entity’s continued support.
Singh argued that the officer acted unreasonably by failing to account for the Letter of Support’s validity when he filed his first application and by declining to treat the supplemental letter as proof of continuing support sufficient to meet the program’s requirements.
The Court’s Holding
Justice Aylen dismissed the application for judicial review. Applying reasonableness review, the Court held that the program guidelines clearly required a Letter of Support in the prescribed form to be valid when IRCC received the work permit application. It was undisputed that Singh’s Letter of Support had expired before he filed the application under review.
The officer was not required to consider that the letter had been valid when Singh submitted his earlier, unsuccessful application. Although the designated entity continued to support Singh, its supplemental letter was not a Letter of Support in the form required by IRCC and therefore did not satisfy the mandatory eligibility requirement.
Because the expired Letter of Support was independently sufficient to justify refusing the application, the Court did not address the officer’s other refusal grounds or Singh’s challenges to them. No question was certified.
Key Takeaways
- A Start-Up Business Class work permit applicant must provide the prescribed Letter of Support, valid when IRCC receives the application.
- A designated entity’s supplemental confirmation of continuing support does not substitute for a valid Letter of Support in the required form.
- The validity of supporting documentation in an earlier application does not cure deficiencies in a later, separate application.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that Start-Up Business Class work permit applicants bear the burden of supplying current documentation in the form required by IRCC. Substantive evidence that a designated entity still supports an applicant cannot overcome the expiration of a mandatory program document.
It also confirms that a decisive failure to satisfy one eligibility requirement can sustain a refusal without the reviewing court examining the officer’s remaining grounds.