Key Findings on Migration
Recent years have seen a growing interest from OECD countries in attracting foreign entrepreneurs, to promote innovation, job creation and increase competitiveness in the globalised knowledge economy. Starting in 2010, 22 OECD countries have introduced specific visa programmes and schemes to attract and retain top entrepreneurial talent.
The OECD Indicators of Talent Attractiveness is a tool to capture the strengths and weaknesses of OECD countries regarding their capacity to attract and retain different types of international talent. The 2023 edition includes, for the first time, a focus on migrant start-up founders.
Canada is the most attractive country for start-up founders in the OECD, with high scores in all dimensions and a start-up visa that offers several advantages for prospective start-up founders. Not surprisingly, the United States also ranks among the top countries, with a very strong startup ecosystem environment. The migration policy framework for start-up founders is however not particularly favourable, as spouses of start-up founders do not enjoy full access to the labour market and there is no direct path from start-up visa to permanent residency.
France has the most favourable policies for international start-up entrepreneurs, with funding opportunities and pathways for start-up staff attached to the start-up visa. International start-up founders are also granted a relatively long period to develop their business before a change in the visa is required.
No. 30 March 2023