Canada Immigration and Visa Services proudly partnered with CIVS Canoscope Immigration and Education announces the release of Canada’s first comprehensive guidebook for business investment immigration for Owner Operators who want to permanently resettle to Canada, which is entitled “Owner Operator LMIA Guidebook: A guide to business investor immigration to Canada using the Owner Operator LMIA Pathway“

Today’s release is the business entrepreneur’s must-have Owner Operator guidebook in becoming a Permanent Resident to Canada by starting or purchasing a business in Canada.

Owner Operator LMIA Guidebook: A guide to business investor immigration to Canada using the Owner Operator LMIA Pathway is authored jointly by Sean G McKinsley, Nikola Misina and Steven J. Paolasini, who map the LMIA Owner Operator program through its origins and provide critical insights into understanding the complex and multi-staged business immigration process in easy step-by-step instructions.

Sean G McKinlsley, Managing Partner states, “We are proudly aligned with Robin Kapoor and Micky (Parvinder) Singh of Canoscope Immigration and Education who add reach and geographical structure through our shared practice reach at the Surrey-Vancouver, BC and New Delhi, India offices.”

Nikola Misina, Partner, states, “Together, we work as a team task force for every client and are faithfully yours in success.  This publication is a team effort, which we hope will serve as a practical guidepost for those seeking a concise and detailed overview of navigating the often complex and highly nuanced processes for coming to Canada through the economic stream.”

Steven J Paolsaini, Vice President,  states, “The Owner Operator pathway is an efficient process by which foreign nationals may permanently resettle to Canada by starting or purchasing a business. This publication is intended as a wellspring for entrepreneurs who wish to make Canada their new home through Canada’s Owner Operator stream.”

This publication may be supplemented by purchasing an extended resources version through our website https://civs.ca/resources/

The extended version online is suited for those individuals who wish to see examples of real-life submissions to the government of Canada under the Owner Operator program.

There are also additional resources available for digital download via https://civs.ca/resources/  including sample business plans, template documents and video tutorials.

We also provide professional service packages on an hourly and flat fee basis.

For more information, contact us:

Sean G McKinsley, Managing Partner & Founder
RCIC & ICCRC Member R529731
Office: +1-587-400-3350
Fax: +1-587-400-4515
WhatsApp: +1-587-703-9805
Email: sean.mckinsley@civs.ca

Nikola Misina, Partner
RCIC & ICCRC Member R524218
Office: +1-587-400-3350
Fax: +1-587-400-4515
WhatsApp: +1-587-893-7427
Email: nikola.misina@civs.ca

Steve Paolasini, Vice-President, B. Eng
Office: +1-587-400-3350
Fax: +1-587-400-4515
WhatsApp: +1-587-703-9805
Email: steve.paolasini@civs.ca

About the Authors

Sean G McKinsley, B.A., RCIC

Managing Partner and Founder – Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc

Sean G McKinsley, BA, RCIC is the Managing Partner and Founder of Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc.

Mr. McKinsley is a Member of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants.

Mr. McKinsley is a specialist in Economic Class Immigration. Mr. McKinsley’s practice focus is in the Owner-Operator LMIA business investment pathway for resettlement to Canada. Mr. McKinsley has successfully assisted clients resettle to Canada from all over the world including former residents of India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe and South America.

Mr. McKinsley is experienced in public policy, business and has served as the Chief Operating Officer of a Western Canadian Law Firm.

In the past, Mr. McKinsley headed the public opinion research branch of JMCK Polling which served an extensive list of clients including senior Members of Parliament, national news media and private sector energy firms. Mr. McKinsley served from 1996 to 2000 as the Executive Assistant to two prominent Members of the Parliament of Canada. He has also worked as a senior political strategist on national leadership, provincial, and municipal campaigns. Prior to this, Mr. McKinsley was the Executive Director of the Alberta Taxpayers Association.

Mr. McKinsley has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Calgary (1996) and an Immigration Practitioner Diploma granted by CSIC (2017).

Nikola Misina, B.A., RCIC

Partner – Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc

Nikola Misina is a Partner at Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc. (CIVS), based out of the firm’s Calgary location.

Mr. Misina is a licensed recruiter under Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act of British Columbia, License No. IS-000096.

Mr. Misina is fluently bilingual in English and the Serbian language.  Mr. Misina has a diverse background in life.

Prior to his career as an immigration practitioner, Mr. Misina  was engaged with one of the largest hotel chains and groups in the world including  Marriott, Sheraton and Swissport group. Mr. Misina has experience in international selection and hiring in the USA and Canada, human resources development and determining the optimum corporate structure.  Mr. Misina’s life history compliments his insight into assisting clients with solutions to their immigration and citizenship needs.

Mr. Misina is an experienced  practitioner with the ability to assist business and individual employee clients in finding a positive match for their mutual success domestically and internationally.

Mr. Misina’s  goal is to be outstanding advocate for his clients through applying his complex knowledge of the process to helping clients meet their immigration objectives. Mr. Misina is considered as a specialist in fields of Federal Skilled Worker Program, Temporary Work (LMIA or LMIA exempt), Student Permits, PNP Programs and Family Sponsorship streams.

Nikola Misina, B.A., RCIC, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R524218 earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 2006 from Megatrend University, Belgrade Serbia in the field of International Marketing and Post-Graduate Degree in 2007 from Swiss Hotel Management School, Leysin Switzerland in the field of Hospitality Management.

Steven Joseph Paolasini, B.Eng

Vice-President – Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc

Steven Joseph Paolasini is the Vice-President at Canada Immigration and Visa Services Inc. (CIVS). Steven is originally from Grimsby, Ontario and earned a degree in Chemical Engineering (2014) from McGill University located in Montreal, Quebec.

Steven has business development hard-coded into his DNA. He is an entrepreneur to the core. Upon graduation from University, accepted a position in a marketing capacity for a medium-sized energy software company. Shortly after, he launched his first company in 2015 with a fellow co-worker. He positioned the company to assist engineering and law firms with their content and digital marketing strategy. In that same year, he ran for federal politics, unsuccessfully at the age of 24. He has been engaged in several other business ventures since he caught the entrepreneurship bug, including a business incubator that has helped train dozens of people in the marketing capacity and help hundreds of businesses grow.

Steven discovered his passion for immigration when he had to fight to keep his first business partner in Canada. He successfully self-navigated an Owner-Operator LMIA approval in late 2016 but failed to follow through and successfully obtain a PR for his business partner in time. Upon connecting with Sean McKinsley of CIVS, they worked together and subsequently succeeded in obtaining a Start-up Visa nomination for his partner, and his partner was able to return to Canada. It was over the course of this process that Steven became obsessed with business immigration. He is passionate about startups and businesses launched by immigrant entrepreneurs. He believes that Canada can continue to improve and be the ultimate destination in the world by importing the best, brightest and most innovative companies and talent. Steven is achieving this goal as Vice-President of CIVS by assisting business immigration clients in sourcing and starting their business in Canada through various immigration pathways.

Steven aspires to one day run as a Member of Parliament and become the Minister of Immigration in the Canadian government. Steven will do whatever it takes to continue to grow the Canadian economy with immigrant entrepreneurs and business owners and wants Canadian immigration policy to better reflect that Canada is unequivocally the best destination in the world for business immigrants.

Acknowledgements from the Authors

We would especially acknowledge Anne Serrano for her unwavering energy and digital marketing savvy, without which this publication would not have come to fruition. We also want to thank Kimberly White and her finance and production teams for their administrative guidance.

We want to express our gratitude to our partners, financiers, professional third-party advisors, and service providers: Ram Chengkalath, CPA, Valsala Chengkalath, Legal Counsel, Mark Felzmann, CFP, EPC, Roberta Gibbons, First Place Realty, Renny Klinot, Capex, Deepak Sodhi, CPA, Theo Klossas, CPA, Jonathan Denis, QC, Officer Jimmy Kritikos, Grant Doyle, Esq,  George Jovica, Esq, Ellis Jovica, Esq, Dr. Sasa Karagic,  Mrs. Tamara Karagic, MA, Steven Loewer, Esq, Jeffrey Jiang, Esq, Soon Thieu, Samer Askar, Jim Brander, CPA, Kevin Herkendaal, Ken Shuler, Husam Al-rameeni, B Eng, Nat Miletic, Esq, Mrs. Dejana Misina, James Carpenter, Esq, Omar Seifeddine, Esq,  Claude & Deborah Solda,  George Kurian, Esq, Jeethna Jose, Country Hills Insurance & Financial Services Inc | The Co-operators and Jovica Property Management.

We want to thank our partners at the National Bank of Canada | Banque Nationale du Canada. National Bank is the financial institution for the newcomers. And we especially appreciate the friendly and our professional team: Samson Lamb, Regional Vice-President Personal Banking, Western Canada, Leigh Doucette, Business Banking team of Western Canada, Tammy Pomper, Branch Manager, Rita – Yuqiang Liu, Branch Manager, Eldee Reyes, Manager,  Specialized Commercial Deposits & SME Banking, Azita Jafari, Advisor, Patricia Lane, Advisor, Iona Brenner, Manager Customers Service, Linda Oviatt, Manager Customer Service, Rachel Fournier-Barber, Manager, Specialized Commercial Deposits and SME Banking, Robyn MacDonald, Senior Service Representative Reception, Karen Lachocki, Branch Advisor, Luxin Qian, Branch Advisor, and Hylton Ferreira, Branch Advisor.

We express our gratitude for the dedicated, professional team at Service Canada with special appreciation for-

Office of the Deputy Minister:  Benoît Robidoux, Associate Deputy Minister EDC-EDSC

Stephanie Hébert, Sous-ministre adjointe / Assistant Deputy Minister Direction générale des opérations de programmes / Program Operations Branch Service Canada

Katie Alexander Directrice exécutive/ Executive Director  Operations du Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires /Temporary Foreign Worker Program Operations Program Operations Branch / Direction Générale des opérations de programmes

Program Officers and Personnel:

Anna Portocarrero, Senior Program Development Officer (Edmonton), Leah Gabretensae, Senior Program Development Officer (Edmonton), Puneet Chabba, Senior Program Development Officer (Edmonton), Mohamed Ibrahim, Program Officer (Edmonton), Andrew Butler, Foreign Worker Program Officer (Atlantic Region), Susan Holita, Program Officer (Atlantic Region), David Johnson, Program Officer – Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Atlantic Region), Harrison Brien, Program Officer – Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Atlantic Region), Roderick Allen, Program Officer – Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Atlantic Region), Timothy Briand-Evans, Program Officer – Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Atlantic Region), A. Kuk, Program Officer – Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Atlantic Region), Kyle Lee, Payment Service Officer (Vancouver), and Grace De La Flor, Payment Service Officer (Edmonton).

We acknowledge and thank Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA) for their service to Canada, especially at Ports of Entry, in keeping us safe and issuing Work Permits to our clients.

We are also grateful to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the departmental personnel for their dedicated service to the administration of immigration policies and law in Canada.

Our special appreciation goes to the head of our Asia Pacific Hong Kong Division, Mrs. Connie Kwok, alongside her indefatigable husband, Mr. Marcus Mak. We welcome and appreciate newly arriving leadership from Hong Kong Asia Pacific group, Mr. Albert Luk On Pak, and Ms. Maria Cheng.

We also want to thank Shalena Bennie and Tania Jasibe Salazar for brightening everyone’s day.

Finally, we wish to thank the leadership from our practice partners, Robin Kapoor and Micky Singh, at Surrey-Vancouver, BC, Regional Headquarters, and Shalini Rana, Rachna Belwal at New Delhi, India Headquarters.

This publication is dedicated to the Honourable Jason Kenney, Premier and Champion of Alberta, for his leadership and service in furtherance of hope, growth and opportunity for all Canadians.