Routes for entrepreneurs, self-employed persons and investors, described around what is actually open.
Entry pathways for entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, and investors establishing a presence in the Canadian market. Program availability shifts (the Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons streams are currently paused to new commitments). A consultation covers what's actually open today.
These are routes for people coming to Canada to start, buy or invest in a business rather than to take a job. They are not a single program, and availability shifts more than anywhere else in the system, which is the most useful thing to know before spending money on a plan.
The federal Start-up Visa requires backing from a designated Canadian organisation — an incubator, angel group or venture fund — rather than a personal investment threshold. The Self-Employed Persons program is narrow, aimed at people with relevant experience in cultural or athletic fields. Both are currently paused to new commitments.
That leaves provincial entrepreneur streams as the main live route for most people. Each province sets its own criteria, its own investment levels and its own intake, and they change independently of one another and of the federal programs.
This is what an application on this route usually involves. It is not a checklist that guarantees anything, and IRCC sets the actual requirements, which change.
Whether it fits you specifically is exactly what a consultation is for. This page cannot answer that, and does not try to.
Each route below is run by the Government of Canada, and its official page is the authoritative source for current requirements. Links go directly there.
For entrepreneurs with support from a designated Canadian organisation. Currently paused to new commitments, so check its status before planning around it.
A federal route for certain self-employed applicants. Also currently paused to new commitments.
Several provinces run their own business and entrepreneur streams, with criteria that vary by province and change over time.
Business program availability changes more often than any other area on this site. Nothing here should be read as confirmation that a given program is open today: that is checked at the time, in a consultation.
Patterns that cause avoidable problems. None of this is advice about your own case, and avoiding all of it still does not decide an application.
Program availability in this space shifts. Signing leases or transferring funds against a program that is paused, or against criteria that have since changed, is an expensive way to find out.
It is not enough that the money exists. Its lawful origin has to be traceable and documented, and this is frequently where business applications stall.
Plans that could describe any applicant in any province read exactly that way. Provincial streams in particular assess genuine intention to establish in that specific province.
Program reopenings are not scheduled events you can plan a move around.
This changes more often than any other area on this site. The federal Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons streams are currently paused to new commitments, which leaves provincial entrepreneur streams as the main live route for most people. Current status is checked at the time, in a consultation.
It depends entirely on the route. The Start-up Visa is built around support from a designated organisation rather than a personal investment threshold; provincial entrepreneur streams typically do set net-worth and investment figures, and those differ by province.
No. These programs are generally built around genuine, active involvement in the business, not passive ownership, and applications are assessed on that basis.
Considerably. It is assessed as evidence of whether the venture is real, viable and actually yours, and where the funds came from is examined alongside it.
Official Government of Canada sources for everything described above. These are the authoritative statements of the requirements; this page is a plain-language summary of how the route works.
A few minutes of general questions, reviewed before you speak with the RCIC-IRB directly.
Start Your AssessmentThe assessment form is general information only. It does not give you an eligibility conclusion.
This page is general information. It is not an assessment of your eligibility, and nothing on it is immigration advice for consideration. Business & Investor matters at ZIMMR are advised on directly by Irshad Osman, RCIC-IRB.
Verify on the CICC public register