German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday that the war in Ukraine could still last for a long time and ending it quickly at the country’s expense was not an option.

In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, Merz, when asked whether a ceasefire might be possible this year, said he hasn’t lost hope but “harbors no illusions,” and emphasized that supporting the country to defend itself against Russia was an “absolute priority.”

“We are trying to end it as quickly as possible. But certainly not at the price of Ukraine’s capitulation. You could end the war tomorrow if Ukraine surrendered and lost its independence,” Merz said.

“Then the next country would be at risk the day after tomorrow. And the day after that, it would be us. That is not an option,” the chancellor said.

Germany is a key backer of Ukraine and has delivered or pledged military support worth around 40 billion euros ($47 billion) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Associated Press

#Putin attends formal reception in honor of heads of SCO delegations
The Russian president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chief of Staff Maxim Oreshkin, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other heads of delegations from SCO member countries, as well as guests invited by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, took part in a formal reception organized by the host country, a TASS correspondent reported.

Putin was accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchxiuk, Deputy Chief of Staff Maxim Oreshkin, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China Igor Morgulov, and Presidential Special Representative for SCO Affairs Bakhtiyor Khakimov.

The ceremony took place at the Tianjin Meijiang International Convention and Exhibition Center. Xi Jinping delivered a speech. Afterwards, the guests enjoyed a concert.

#Canada has an honest-to-goodness treasure hunt on its hands.

Organized by the #newspaper The Northern Miner, the Great Canadian Treasure Hunt is a cross-country contest pitting #Canadians’ deductive skills against the holy grail of geographical guessing games: A weatherproof case with a code redeemable for $1 million in gold.

Here’s what to know about the treasure, and where it might be found:
The gold

The contest’s terms and conditions describe the grand prize as 217 one-ounce gold coins, which The Northern Miner says are “vault certified, physically held, and ready to claim.”

According to the organizers, additional bonus prizes of six coins each, or $25,000, will be awarded to contestants who find one of 12 codes hidden elsewhere in Canada, each with its own clues released monthly.

The number of coins per prize is set, meaning that should the price of gold go up or down in the meantime, so will the value of the treasures.
The rules

Before anyone gets carried away, there are a few ground rules to keep in mind.

First, in the interest of fair play, the locations of the treasures are tightly held -- so much so that only one of the organizers knows exactly where the grand prize is hidden. Also, none of those locations are within five kilometres of any home, workplace or property belonging to the organizers or their families.

Other important no-go zones include private property, underwater or underground in mines, caves or tunnels; in, under or on top of man-made structures; anywhere near gravesites, cemeteries or memorials; construction sites, hazardous waste dumps or in locations that require climbing gear or “risky stunts.”

No special equipment, vehicles or athletic ability will be required to find the treasure.

Even so, the contest’s safety page reminds treasure hunters to take precautions for the cold, heat and inclement weather, to bring a buddy and a fully charged phone, to beware of wildlife and to respect the environment, artifacts of Canadian heritage and their own wellbeing.

“Remember: the real treasure isn’t just the gold—it’s the adventure, the stories, and coming home safe to tell them,” it reads.
The clues

At the heart of the hunt is a 52-line poem, and its cryptic clues that hint at the prize’s location.

The contest’s website warns would-be seekers to “take nothing at face value,” to “think laterally,” and even suggests that mistakes in the text could be intentional.

“Typos aren’t clues…” the FAQ reads. “Or are they?”

Here are some potential hints hiding in the poem, and what they might mean:

#Landforms

It’s a good idea to narrow down from Canada’s 10 million square kilometres by searching for signs of major landforms.

The most readily apparent is the Canadian Shield; a massive sheet of bedrock under parts of the territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador, which earns a specific mention:

“The Shield bends low through sleeping trees … Where sunken whispers told of ease,” it reads.

Careful, though: Sometimes, the poem is describing where the treasure isn’t.

The second stanza mentions that “Gold sighs beneath the mountain’s strain,” and describes a place “beyond the clouds, where glaciers reign.”

Both details might bring to mind the Rocky Mountains, or perhaps the glacial coastlines from northern Labrador to Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island.

But in the very next line, that idea is thrown out the window, as “Yet peaks mislead with gilded hue … The path lies where the birch trees grew.”

Plant life

On a more organic note, the poem is littered with references to trees; ones that may hint at general areas of interest.

The white birch tree, like those mentioned above, are common in Canada, but don’t typically grow in the central Arctic. If you were planning an excursion to Baffin Island, you may want to save yourself the trouble.

Tantalizingly, a marker implied to be relevant to the treasure can be found near “pine,” though with 10 different species of pine trees scattered across Canada, that barely excludes any region.

Also mentioned are cedar trees, of which Canada has two major species. The western redcedar can be found along the west coast, as well as in the eastern B.C interior. Meanwhile, the eastern white-cedar covers a wide swath of Canada from the Manitoba-Ontario boundary to southwest Nova Scotia, and north to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.

Trees are also described as “sleeping,” with “brittle roots” and having grown in the past tense, which may match something like a petrified fossil forest. Alternatively, maybe “sleeping” just refers to how deciduous trees become dormant in the winter, which would favour Canada’s southern forests.

Water

The poem also makes frequent reference to bodies of water, like potentially oceanside “brine” and “salt air.” Rivers may also feature, as hinted by a “current,” and possibly even a waterfall.

At the same time, mention of a “mirror” and “silence” among water that “hums” suggests perhaps what you’re looking for is more like a calm lake, or pond.

Hunters are encouraged to look out for a marker of the treasure “by shore,” so keep an eye out for where the water meets the land, but bear in mind that anywhere underwater is off-limits, which could disqualify any place that would be submerged at high tide.

Metal and minerals

Gold isn’t the only mineral that makes an appearance.

Copper is evoked by the obscure Greek-derived name “chalco,” or with references to “red seams” and “verdigris” -- another name for copper oxide.

One line refers to “zinc-toned waters,” a location of note is described as “where iron sings,” and copper is said to have a “song” of its own.

In fact, gold mostly appears when the poem is talking about where the treasure isn’t hidden, such as in “gilded desks” and how what could be the hiding place is “not marked by gold but core alone.”

If you’re interested in digging deeper on metals, Natural Resources Canada maintains a map of regions notable for mining here.

Manmade landmarks

There’s no shortage of artificial markers mentioned, either.

“Flinty’s claim” makes an appearance, which all signs point to being a reference to Josiah Flintabattey Flonatin, the fictional prospector and namesake of Flin Flon, Man., where he is commemorated with a cartoonish statue.

Another proper noun is Bathurst, said to have a “deepest bell” ringing. That could refer to the major street in Toronto, but also the coastal zinc-mining community of the same name in northern New Brunswick, both of which home to at least one bell tower.

Midway through, the poem describes a “giant coin” that “reflects the sun.” Taken literally, that could mean Ontario landmarks like the Big Nickel in Sudbury, giant loonie in Echo Bay or the oversized toonie in Campbellford, though this may be another misdirection, as the coin’s “gleam” is ultimately described as a “siren’s light” warning that “No miner’s truth is held in sight.”

Another red herring to look out for: the poem name-drops a very specific location, Toronto’s Bay Street financial district, but treasure hunters shouldn’t be fooled, for “No gilded desk nor numbered share … Will point to where the birches stare.”
So, where’s the treasure?

It’s anyone’s guess, but the final two stanzas seem to offer a window into the hiding place itself.

“Step not in haste where paths align … But where the trail forgets design … Beyond the mark the tall grass grows … And buried speaks what no one knows,” reads the penultimate set of rhymes.

If you think you might be steps away from a million-dollar payday, search for a “sliver” resting in the overgrowth, hidden behind the brush.

All throughout the poem, words like “silence” and “whispers” bring to mind a quiet, secluded spot, just waiting to be found. Perhaps most mysterious of all, the very final line seems to suggest that the case containing the winning code could be magnetized; a sort of invisible X that marks the spot:

“The compass turns,” it reads. “And all is hush.”

Happy hunting, Canada.

Indonesian leader pledges to revoke lawmakers’ perks after protests leave 6 dead

#Israeli airstrike kills Houthi rebel prime minister in Sanaa. Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in Thursday’s strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing details.

The premier was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a “routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year,” the Houthi statement said.

Thursday’s strike took place as the rebel-owned television station was broadcasting a speech by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the secretive leader of the rebel group, in which he was sharing updates on the latest Gaza developments and vowing retaliation against Israel. Senior Houthi officials used to gather to watch al-Houthi’s prerecorded speeches.

Al-Rahawi wasn’t part of the inner circle around al-Houthi that runs the military and strategic affairs of the group. His government, like the previous ones, was tasked with running the day-to-day civilian affairs in Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas.

The strike that killed the prime minister targeted a meeting for Houthi leaders in a villa in Beit Baws, an ancient village in southern Sanaa, three tribal leaders told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.” Late on Saturday, the military in a statement confirmed killing al-Rahawi “along with additional senior officials.” It said senior officials among the dozens at the facility struck were responsible for “terror actions” against Israel.

“Yemen endures a lot for the victory of the Palestinian people,” al-Rahawi had said following an Israeli strike last week that struck an facility owned by the country’s main oil company, which is controlled by the rebels in Sanaa, as well as a power plant.

The Aug. 24 strike came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the rebels had launched at it since 2023.

The prime minister hailed from the southern province of Abyan, and was an ally to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He allied himself with the Houthis when the rebels overran Sanaa, and much of the north and center of the country in 2014, initiating the country’s long-running civil war. He was appointed as prime minister in August 2024.

The United States and Israel began their air and naval campaign against the Houthis in response to the rebels’ missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis targeted ships in response to the war in Gaza, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods pass each year.

The U.S. and Israeli strikes killed dozens of people in Yemen. One U.S. strike in April hit a prison holding African migrants in northern Sadaa province, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others.

Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst with the Crisis Group International, a Brussels-based think tank, called the killing of the Houthi prime minister a “serious setback” for the rebels.

He said it marks an Israeli shift from striking the rebels’ infrastructure to targeting their leaders, including senior military figures, which “poses a greater threat to their command structure.”

In May, the Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.

Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

Chicago mayor defies Trump’s immigration crackdown plan for the city.

The mayor of Chicago pushed back Saturday against what he called the “out-of-control” Trump administration’s plan to surge federal officers into the nation’s third-largest city, which could take place within days.

The Chicago Police Department will be barred from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops and checkpoints during the surge, according to an executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The mayor directed all city departments to guard the constitutional rights of Chicago residents “amidst the possibility of imminent militarized immigration or National Guard deployment by the federal government.”

When asked during a news conference about federal agents who are presumably “taking orders,” Johnson replied: “Yeah, and I don’t take orders from the federal government.”

Johnson also blocked Chicago police from wearing face coverings to hide their identities, as most federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have adopted since the Trump administration took charge this year.

The federal surge into Chicago could start as early as Sept. 5 and last about 30 days, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been made public.

The officials described the immigration crackdown as part of a larger effort to expand the federal law enforcement presence in major Democratic-run cities, as it did this summer in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump commented about Chicago crime and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on his Truth Social site: “Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME. He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming! MAGA. President DJT”

Unlike the recent federal takeover of policing in Washington, D.C., the Chicago operation is not expected to rely on the National Guard or military and is focused exclusively on immigration instead of being cast as part of a broad campaign against crime, the officials said.

Chicago is home to a large immigrant population, and both the city and the state of Illinois have some of the country’s strongest rules against cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts. That has often put the city and state at odds with President Donald Trump ‘s mass deportation agenda.

Johnson’s order builds on the city’s longtime stance, saying neither Chicago nor Illinois officials have sought or been consulted on the federal presence and demanding Trump stand down on those plans.

Johnson had harsh words for Trump during his news conference, accusing the president of “behaving outside the bounds of the Constitution” and seeking a federal presence in blue cities as retribution against his political rivals.

“He is reckless and out of control,” Johnson said. “He’s the biggest threat to our democracy that we’ve experienced in the history of our country.”

In response, the White House insisted the potential flood of federal agents was about “cracking down on crime.”

“If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email Saturday.

Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press

#Australian government signs deal to deport former detainees to the tiny island country of Nauru.

Australia and Nauru signed an agreement on Friday to allow the Australian government to deport formerly detained people without valid visas to the tiny island nation, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Under the memorandum of understanding, Australia will pay Nauru 408 million Australian dollars ($267 million) up front once the first people arrive, followed by 70 million Australian dollars ($46 million) annually for the resettlement.

The move is being slammed by refugee advocates, some of whom say the deal could open the door to mass deportations without notice. Human rights organizations have protested deportations to Nauru since a report by the United Nations found “systematic violations” of the International Convention Against Torture.

Tony Burke, Australia’s home affairs minister, said in a statement that the memorandum “contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru.”

The two countries struck a deal in February to allow Australia to deport three violent criminals to Nauru. They were granted 30-year visas.

An Australian High Court decision in 2023 overturned the government’s policy of indefinite detention for immigrants who could neither get a visa, in some cases because of criminal conduct, nor be deported because they would face persecution or harm in their home countries. More than 200 immigrants have been released from detention as a result of the case. Some were charged with further offenses after their release.

Burke said the Nauru deal would target this group.

“Anyone who doesn’t have a valid visa should leave the country,” he said. “This is a fundamental element of a functioning visa system.”

In a statement posted online, Jana Favero, deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, criticized the agreement.

“This deal is discriminatory, disgraceful and dangerous,” she said. “At a time when the entire country has just voted for unity and rejected fear, rather than embrace this and show leadership, the Albanese Government has launched yet another attack on migrants and refugees.”

Associated Press, The Associated Press

#Lebanese army plans to carry out ‘sensitive missions’ amid U.S.-backed Hezbollah disarmament plan.

#BEIRUT — Lebanon’s military will soon carry out “sensitive missions,” the country’s army chief said Friday, in an apparent reference to the Lebanese government’s U.S.-backed plan to disarm the Hezbollah militant group by the end of the year.

Lebanon’s military will take necessary steps to ensure the missions’ success while preserving peace among the civilian population in the crisis-hit nation, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal said in a statement. Lebanon has a U.S.-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah as well as Palestinian weapons in the country’s refugee camps.

The Lebanese government asked the army in early August to come up with a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the month. The prime minister’s office said in a statement Friday the Cabinet will hold a meeting to discuss the plan on Sept. 5.

Hezbollah’s leadership has vowed not to disarm, saying the national government’s decision to remove the Iran-backed group’s weapons by the end of the year serves Israel’s interests.

“The army is taking major responsibilities at all levels,” Haykal was quoted as saying by an army statement. He made his comments during a meeting with the military’s top generals.

Haykal added that the army is approaching a “delicate stage during which it will carry out sensitive missions and will take all the steps needed to make these missions successful taking into consideration the preservation of civil peace and internal stability.”

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said earlier this month that the government is to blame if the situation gets out of control and leads to internal conflict in the small nation.

Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November 2024 with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes. Those strikes have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it killed an official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in south Lebanon. Lebanese state media reported that one person was killed in a drone strike in the village of Sir el-Gharbiyeh.

Haykal was quoted by the army statement as saying that the military is in contact with Syrian authorities to control the border between the two countries.

Before the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad in December, Hezbollah received much of its weapons from Iran through Syria.

#UN peacekeepers discover Hezbollah bunker in south #Lebanon. El Meri, Lebanon — In a wooded valley close to the Israeli border, United Nations peacekeepers showed AFP journalists a Hezbollah bunker they had uncovered in southern Lebanon, a former bastion of the militant group.

The UN Security Council voted on Thursday to end the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 2027, with the peacekeeping force facing U.S. and Israeli opposition.

The peacekeepers, first deployed in 1978, have recently been working with the Lebanese army to enforce a November ceasefire that followed more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Lebanese group was badly weakened and, as part of the ceasefire deal, is required to withdraw from south Lebanon.

“This morning we conducted a recce in this valley that we identified as... of valuable interest” because it was hit by the Israeli military during the conflict, said Captain Tanguy, commander of the French reconnaissance and intervention troops, on Wednesday.

The site, on the outskirts of the village of Meri, was hidden among trees and accessible only on foot via a rough mountain path.

Green boxes filled with shells were scattered on the ground, while others were inside a storeroom that appeared to have been bombed.

“Inside the bunker we found an artillery cannon of 152 mm calibre. It’s Russian-made. It was facing eastward and southward,” Tanguy said.
‘Provide security’

“This type of cannon has a range of about 15 kilometres (around 10 miles) effectiveness,” he added.

Next to it were several dozen boxes each containing a 152 mm shell “ready to be used”.

“And as you can see the cannon is still intact”, Tanguy said.

“The next step would be for us to provide security in the area so the Lebanese Armed Forces can intervene and retrieve the valuable assets,” he said.

Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL has deployed alongside the Lebanese military to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure there, including a substantial network of tunnels.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in June that the Lebanese army had dismantled more than 500 Hezbollah military positions and weapons depots in the south.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP that since the ceasefire, peacekeepers had found 318 weapons caches in southern Lebanon.

Earlier this month, six Lebanese soldiers were killed in a blast at a weapons depot near the border that a military source said belonged to Hezbollah.

Under heavy U.S. pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli military action, Lebanon’s government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.

For its part, Israel has retained troops at five points within Lebanon that it deems strategic. This month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested they would be withdrawn if Hezbollah were successfully disarmed.
‘Monitor and report’ violations

Around 10,800 peacekeepers are stationed in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL has been deployed since shortly after the Israeli invasion of 1978.

Their deployment has spanned the Israeli invasion of 1982, its subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon until 2000, the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah as well as the recent hostilities which began in October 2023 and culminated in open war last year during which Israel sent in ground troops.

The Security Council voted on Thursday to extend UNIFIL’s mandate one last time to the end of next year, with the force withdrawing by the end of 2027.

The definitive end to the mission was pushed for by the United States and welcomed by Israel.

Colonel Arnaud de Coincy, the commanding officer of UNIFIL’s quick-reaction Force Commander Reserve, said the peacekeepers would continue to support the Lebanese army “to provide all the expertise, all the assets we have, in order to help them” restore state authority to Lebanon’s south.

UNIFIL’s main role is to “monitor and to report any violation” of the ceasefire, he noted.

Clearly visible behind him was one of the five sites still held by Israeli troops, between the border towns of Kfar Kila and Burj al-Muluk.

Israel has also kept up regular strikes on what it says are Hezbollah sites and operatives in Lebanon despite the truce.

Tenenti said UNIFIL had recorded 5,095 Israeli air violations since the ceasefire began.

By Laure Al Khoury

#Immigrants waiting years to become permanent residents after applying to Canada’s start-up visa program.

Canada’s Start-up Visa Program was intended to attract innovative entrepreneurs to the country, but immigration experts are concerned about the lengthy delays some applicants are facing in securing their work permits and permanent residency.

Applicants can obtain work permits as they await a decision on their permanent residency applications. But those with work permits face more roadblocks in attempting to set up their business and receive funding than permanent residents, according to Stephen Green, past chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s national section on citizenship and immigration.

The federal government’s Start-up Visa Program is currently the only way business entrepreneurs or senior executives can apply to come to Canada, said Green, who is also managing partner of Toronto-based Green and Spiegel, in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.

He said some provinces have a business program that grants work permits, but there are hurdles.

“There’s a lot of difficulty when someone’s trying to establish a business in a province,” he said. “They may want funding for their business, and a lot of the banks won’t give funding to people that are just on work permits.”

He said the government has limited resources because it has cut back on economic immigration.

“Therefore, the lines have gotten much larger with respect to the Start-up Visa, and it’s really affecting the ability of innovative people to come to Canada and help us economically in Canada,” Green said.

The federal government’s Start-up Visa Program aims to attract immigrant entrepreneurs to Canada. Since it was created in 2013, more than 900 start-ups have launched and more than 3,000 entrepreneurs have become permanent residents through the program.

Foreign entrepreneurs are eligible to apply if they have the committed support of a designated venture capital fund, with an investment of $200,000; an angel investor group, with an investment of $75,000; or a business incubator.

The work permit allows Start-up Visa applicants to establish their business in the country while they wait for a decision on their permanent residence applications.

Afeez Moradeyo described his experience with the program as a “fantastic journey” overall, but he said the long wait made him consider abandoning his application for Canada. He applied to Canada’s Start-up Visa Program to launch his business when he was living in Dubai.

It took about two years and six months for him to get his work permit in Canada in April 2023.

“It’s really too long,” the fintech entrepreneur said in a video interview Wednesday about the wait. “It’s draining but still worth it.”

“More priorities should be given to start-up visa applicants in the course of their immigration processing because the wait period is really, really, discouraging,” Moradeyo said from Peterborough, Ont.

“It’s not just about bringing in bright ideas that would further transform the tech ecosystem in Canada, but also, the amount of investments put into it. So that consideration should be given when it comes to immigration processing so that Canada does not have to lose brilliant minds that could further contribute greatly to the economy here.”
Push for changes to program

Judy Han, an expert on immigrant entrepreneurship and an assistant professor of strategy management at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., told CTVNews.ca in a video interview that the program should target more “quality” start-ups that can scale globally to make the program more efficient.

Marvin Ryder, a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business, said the program is “well-designed” but has attracted more applicants than expected.

“So the people who have entered the program with the best of intention are getting more frustrated and more frustrated and more frustrated because of the amount of time it’s taking to be validated and approved,” Ryder said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca.

Ryder said the problem could be fixed easily.

“Just resource the program properly, staff it with the right number of people, deal with this backlog, and instantly it would become a much bigger winner than it already is,” he said.
Immigration cap

As of July 22, the program has nearly 42,200 applications, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Of that group, about 16,370 applications have been received but have not yet been finalized for more than 24 months.

To address the backlog and growing wait times, the federal government said it has capped the number of start-ups that designated organizations can support to 10 each year.

“The number of Start-up Visa applications in the program inventory far outnumber the number of planned admissions spaces, which has led to a backlog and longer wait times,” wrote IRCC spokesperson Remi Lariviere in an email to CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. “We have taken a number of steps to limit growth of the Start-up Visa backlog and mitigate wait times by significantly limiting intake under the program and introducing prioritization criteria.”

The federal government is prioritizing the return of immigration to sustainable levels while attracting top talent, Lariviere added. He noted that the target number of federal business admissions set out in the Immigration Levels Plan, which includes both the Start-up Visa and Self Employed programs, was reduced to 2,000 in 2025 and 1,000 in 2026, from 6,000 in 2024.

In the government’s December 2023 report evaluating the program, it acknowledged the longer processing times and backlogs as challenges hurting the program’s “competitiveness and attractiveness.”