Suspension or de-designation of an entity (start-up business class)

Designated entities are business groups that have been approved to invest in or support possible start-up businesses.

Upon approval by the Minister, the Department considers an entity to become designated as of the date that it is added to the list of designated entities on the Department’s website.

Suspension of designated entities

If there is reason to suspect that an entity does not meet the conditions outlined in the Regulations or has submitted false, misleading or inaccurate information, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may do both of the following:

•  suspend the entity’s ability to make commitments
•  put applications associated with commitments made by that entity on hold advise the applicant via a procedural fairness letter

An entity may be suspended for up to a maximum of 9 months. During this time, the suspension may be lifted if the Minister determines that the situation is resolved. In these cases, the lifting of the suspension takes effect on the date that a notification is issued by the Department.

De-designation of designated entities

Upon approval by the Minister, the Department considers an entity to become de-designated as of the date that it is removed from the list of designated entities on the Department’s website.

If a designated entity is de-designated, the officer should proceed as follows:

• applications that have been put into processing should be refused, unless the officer is satisfied that substituted evaluation could be used, as they would no longer have a valid commitment from a designated entity;
• applications that have not been put into processing should be returned to the applicant and fees refunded.

IRCC will make all reasonable efforts to notify all affected applicants of the impact of the de-designation and the avenues of recourse available.