The refusal was primarily grounded in section 89(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which is applied when an immigration officer determines that the primary purpose of a business arrangement is to obtain permanent resident status in Canada rather than to establish and operate a genuine business. In this case, while the applicants had outlined an ambitious health-tech concept, the officer found that the start-up had shown minimal development during the nearly three-year period since the application was filed.
More significantly, the applicants failed to demonstrate any meaningful integration into the Canadian business environment. Their research and development activities were based in Europe and India, and the advisory support came from a partner in Portugal. Although they indicated plans to approach Canadian stakeholders after completing product development, the officer deemed this intention insufficient. There was no evidence of contact with Canadian physicians, researchers, institutions, or potential partners — no outreach, no letters of intent, and no collaboration.
The issue at hand extended beyond geographic dispersion and pointed to a lack of substantive business rationale for establishing operations in Canada.
The applicants referred to prolonged IRCC processing times as a barrier to deeper business involvement, while the designated incubator acknowledged that investment funds had been withheld due to uncertainty surrounding the application outcome. Nevertheless, the court concluded that these circumstances did not exempt the applicants from their obligation to remain actively engaged and demonstrate consistent business development. In both the officer’s assessment and the court’s view, this level of engagement was not sufficiently demonstrated.
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