Maple Program Details
Program Details, Fees & Features
The Maple Program was created by Launch to aid international companies currently at Seed, Series A or higher with their growth and expansion to Canada and North America through providing a landing pad with resources, mentorship, networking, and business matchmaking to overcome the challenges that occur when moving a business and family to Canada.
The program is designed to work with those going through the Canadian Startup Visa Program or other business specific immigration processes such as Express Entry, BC Provincial Nomination Program, and/or Global Talent Stream.
The program is broken up into 5 phases, over an aggregate span of approximately 21 to 36 months. Each phase is designed to provide enough information and resources for each of the companies to make the preparations necessary for transitioning your company to Canada.
- The 1st Phase is 1 to 2 months in nature and occurs over a series of virtual workshops and online office hours.
- The 2nd Phase’s schedule is dependent on the company’s own timeline but is expected to be completed within 3-6 months following the completion of Phase 1.
- The 3rd Phase is also completed virtually online prior to the company’s arrival into Canada and is typically 2 to 12 months in length.
- The 4th Phase occurs in Vancouver and spans around 3 months.
- The 5th Phase takes place over a 12 month period both virtually and in-person and functions as a support system as companies solidify their operations in Canada.
The program completion time varies depending on various individual factors including but not limited to border restrictions, work permit processing times, etc.
- Private workshops on immigration, incorporation in Canada, transferring IP to Canada, accounting and tax implications, and more
- Lifestyle and landing pad support for your team members and families, including banking, insurance, and housing information
- Guidance and support through your company’s immigration needs
- Office hours with some of the brightest minds in Startups and mentorship from Launch’s seasoned startup mentors and industry experts.
- Business matchmaking for your company’s needs
- Access to Launch’s unique community of over 250 founders from more than 60 countires
- Exclusive access to Launchhub, featuring:
- Access to up to $400,000 CAD of start-up perks from AWS, Microsoft, Stripe, Zendesk, HubSpot & others
- AMAs (Live sessions to ask questions to seasoned start-up mentors)
- Webinars (Live Learning Sessions with mentors and partners)
- Standups (Group discussions to meet your fellow members and build strategic connections)
- Pitch Sessions (Monthly sessions for members to participate in honing their pitches)
- Reverse pitch sessions (Live session to ask all your burning questions to investors and request introductions to them)
- Exclusive invitations to CxO Summits, gatherings of high-level executives from the best startups in North America
- Access to Traction Podcast – North America’s leading growth conference & podcast series bringing leaders from Google, Shopify, Uber and top-tier VCs.
Unlike other programs, Launch takes 0% equity in your company. Instead, there is a program fee starting at $41,800* CAD broken down over 7 payments over 21-36 months (plus applicable taxes, note for companies outside of Canada, all local non-Canadian taxes will be the sole responsibility of the international company) for the program.
- Phase 1, Information: $5,000 CAD – Paid prior to the start of the program.
- Phase 2, Roadmapping: $5,000 CAD – Paid upon acceptance into Phase 2 of the program.
- Phase 3, Transition: $10,000 CAD – Paid upon acceptance into Phase 3 of the program.
- Phase 4, Landing: $16,800 CAD – 3 payments of $5,000 + $600 (Desk Fee) CAD due at the beginning of each month of Phase 4 (3 months). This excludes any additional fees that may incur during your immigration process, legal fees & additional services that may be required.
- Phase 5, Launch: $5,000 CAD – Paid upon acceptance into Phase 5 of the program.
As Launch is a not-for-profit organization, all program proceeds will be reinvested back into building the Canadian tech and talent ecosystem.
Please note that the Maple Program fees are not correlated to the success and failure of the company’s immigration status, but rather for the programming and services provided to help companies acclimate to the North America Market.
If you’re applying to our Maple Program in order to be eligible for the Startup Visa Program, make sure you meet the program’s basic requirements first.
- Each co-founder must individually hold at least 10% of the company’s voting rights and all founders together must hold more than 50% of the new Canadian company’s voting rights.
- All applicants must be willing to move to Canada within 1-2 years of enrolment in the Maple Startup Visa Program.
- Minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 5 in English by the time you apply for permanent residency in Canada.
You can see the full list of requirements here.
Launch + the Maple Program
Launch is Western Canada’s leading non-profit tech hub, focused on helping entrepreneurs launch, fund and grow their startups since 2012.
Incubated over
6000
ENTREPRENEURS
Creating more than
3800
JOBS
Collectively raising
2B
IN FUNDING
Entrepreneurs from
100+
COUNTRIES
Launch Academy is a designated organization of the Canadian Government’s Start-up Visa Program and a designated referral partner for the Global Talent Stream Program. Launch’s Maple Program helps tech companies expand their business to North America and supports their access to Canadian Work Visas and Permanent Residency for entrepreneurs, executives and their families.