Canada: national policies to support transnational diaspora entrepreneurship

Foreign-born individuals, or first-generation immigrants, in Canada, have the potential to drive the long-term, multi-generational phenomenon of transnational diaspora entrepreneurship (TDE). As transnational entrepreneurs, they can do so by cultivating cross-border networks to support new ventures, or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), that export goods or services to their country of origin. They could also transfer TDE-enabling resources to their descendants (i.e., second-generation immigrants). But many first-generation immigrants are unable to foster TDE in these ways. Although policymakers want to help, the lack of a coherent framework precludes them from doing so in an effective way. This chapter contributes by providing a novel national policy triad framework. In addition to identifying distinct policies (e.g., immigration, international trade and entrepreneurship policies) that can support a national TDE policy, it explains how to optimize this policy. The chapter concludes by discussing the practical and theoretical implications of these nuanced insights.