If you have capital and a real track record of running a business, Canada is worth a serious look. There is no single programme called the Canada entrepreneur visa. In practice the phrase covers two things: the federal Start-up Visa, and the entrepreneur streams that individual provinces run under the Provincial Nominee Program. Most provincial routes work the same way. You arrive on a temporary work permit, build and run the business, meet the targets you agreed, and only then apply for permanent residence. Picking the right province and writing a plan you can actually deliver is what makes the route predictable. Every decision rests with IRCC and the province, not with any adviser.
Spouse and dependent children can be included in the application
CLB 4 to CLB 5, depending on the stream
About 2 to 5 years to permanent residence
CAD 200,000 from a designated VC fund, CAD 75,000 from a designated angel group, or no investment with a designated incubator; net worth is tested by the provincial streams, not the federal one
Most streams set a language floor rather than a high bar. The federal Start-up Visa requires CLB 5 in each of the four abilities. British Columbia sets CLB 4 and Manitoba CLB 5. Where a province scores applicants and issues invitations, a higher result usually improves your ranking, so treat the minimum as a floor, not a target.
In several provincial streams, yes. Buying a business is not enough on its own. You have to show that you will hold a controlling share, manage it in person and grow it. Provinces expect the purchase to protect the jobs already there and usually to add new ones, and the officer will ask what you intend to change. Buying a trading name and leaving the business as it was does not meet the test.
Yes. Once you hold permanent residence you may live and work anywhere in Canada. Until then you are bound by the performance agreement you signed with the province, and leaving early can cost you the nomination.
Ask for a free eligibility review before you commit money to a business plan or a deposit. No one can promise a visa, because the decision belongs to IRCC and the province. What a proper review does give you is a clear answer on whether a stream fits your capital and your experience, and what the whole route will cost, before you spend.
If you want to invest in a Canadian company, buy a trading business or apply through a provincial entrepreneur programme, the route is open to applicants anywhere in the world. Canada has a stable economy, a skilled workforce and immigration programmes built specifically around business owners. What it does not have is a single programme called the Canada entrepreneur visa. That phrase is shorthand for two different things: the federal Start-up Visa, which is aimed at scalable, innovative companies backed by a designated organisation, and the entrepreneur streams run by each province under the Provincial Nominee Program, which are aimed at owner-operators who will run a business in that province. They ask for different money, different experience and different evidence.
This guide covers the Canada entrepreneur visa requirements for 2026, the capital and net worth each route expects, the documents, the fees, the realistic timelines and how the two routes differ from investor programmes. It is written for people comparing options before they spend anything.
The federal route is the Start-up Visa. According to the Government of Canada, it is designed for people who can build an innovative company in Canada outside Quebec, create jobs for Canadians and compete internationally. The business must be genuinely new and scalable, and it must be backed by a Canadian organisation that IRCC has designated for the purpose.
The provincial route is different. Every province except Quebec and Nunavut runs some form of entrepreneur stream under its Provincial Nominee Program. These streams do not require venture capital or an incubator. They ask for personal net worth, a direct investment in a local business, hands-on management, and jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Quebec runs its own business immigration programmes, Investor, Entrepreneur and Self-Employed Worker, separately from the federal system. Intake conditions have changed repeatedly in recent years, so confirm the current status on the Quebec government website before you plan an application. The federal Self-Employed Persons Program, which is a separate route for cultural and athletic workers, has been paused for new applications.
Both routes exist for the same policy reason. Canada wants owner-operators who create employment, add research and development spending, diversify the workforce and strengthen the start-up ecosystem. That is the test your file has to meet, and it is why a vague plan with borrowed numbers fails while a modest, well-evidenced one succeeds.
Business immigration to Canada is slower than a work permit and more demanding than a visitor visa. These are the reasons applicants still choose it.
1. Permanent residence can include your family
A spouse or common-law partner and dependent children can be included in the same permanent residence application as the principal applicant. If it is approved, the family holds permanent residence together, with access to provincial health cover, the labour market and public services on the same terms as other residents. For most applicants this, rather than the business itself, is the point of the exercise.
2. Publicly funded schooling for children
Dependent children of permanent residents attend public school without tuition fees. At university they later pay domestic tuition, which is far below the international rate. They also learn in English or French from the outset, which matters more to long-term outcomes than most families expect.
3. You own and run the business yourself
These are not passive investment programmes. You are expected to be the active owner-manager. On the federal Start-up Visa that means a business supported by a designated organisation: a venture capital fund, an angel investor group, or a business incubator. On provincial streams it means living in the province and running the company day to day.
4. A stable place to carry commercial risk
Canada has one of the more predictable regulatory and banking environments in the world. That does not remove commercial risk, but it does mean contracts are enforceable, credit is available and planning three years ahead is realistic. You also get access to established business networks, professional advisers and formal funding channels.
5. Competitive tax and access to global markets
A Canadian company can trade into the United States, Mexico, the European Union, the United Kingdom and much of Asia under existing trade agreements. Small business corporate tax rates are competitive, and federal and provincial research and development credits reduce the cost of building a product.
These are the federal Start-up Visa criteria. Provincial entrepreneur streams set their own thresholds, which are covered further down.
IRCC also limits how many applications each designated organisation can support in a year and gives priority to files backed by capital or by an incubator in Canada’s Tech Network. That has made the letter of support, not the money, the hardest part of the federal route.
Meeting these criteria makes an application possible. It does not make it successful. Officers assess whether the business is real, whether the money is lawfully yours and whether you intend to run the company rather than buy a status. The clearer the plan, the stronger the management history and the more transparent the source of funds, the fewer questions you will face.
Gathering evidence is the first practical step for both the federal route and provincial entrepreneur programmes. Most files need the following.
Incomplete evidence causes delay. Misrepresentation is far worse: under section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act it can lead to a five-year ban on applying to come to Canada. Never sign a form or a plan you have not read.
The provincial entrepreneur programmes are the route most owner-operators actually use. Choosing the province is a commercial decision as much as an immigration one, because you will be living there and the business has to work in that local market. Thresholds below are the published figures at the time of writing; provinces revise them, and several have paused or narrowed intake since federal nomination allocations were cut, so confirm the current rules on the province’s own site before you commit.
1. British Columbia: BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration
BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration lets you start or buy a business in British Columbia and be considered for nomination once you have delivered what you agreed.
You enter on a temporary work permit and have roughly 20 months from arrival to implement the business plan. Only after the performance agreement is met does the province consider a nomination.
2. Manitoba: MPNP Business Investor Stream, Entrepreneur Pathway
Manitoba’s Entrepreneur Pathway suits people who intend to start a company or buy an existing one in the province.
The process runs through an Expression of Interest, an invitation to apply, entry on a temporary work permit and then delivery of the agreed plan. Only once the business is trading as promised can you be nominated for permanent residence.
3. Other provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Ontario
Thresholds elsewhere differ considerably, particularly between capital cities and regional communities:
| Province | Net worth | Investment | Management experience / ownership |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | CAD 600,000 | CAD 250,000 | Ownership or active management of a business |
| Nova Scotia | CAD 600,000 (within Halifax) / CAD 400,000 (outside Halifax) | CAD 150,000 | At least 3 years of ownership or 5 years of senior management |
| Saskatchewan | CAD 500,000 | CAD 200,000 to CAD 300,000 | At least 33% ownership or active management |
| Ontario | CAD 800,000 to CAD 1,500,000 | CAD 500,000 to CAD 1,000,000 | At least 3 years of management or ownership |
The right province depends on your capital, your sector and where your business genuinely has customers. A lower investment threshold is a poor reason to choose a market you do not understand.
Whichever stream you use, the sequence is broadly the same.
Step 1: check that you are eligible
Confirm your net worth, your ownership or management history, your available capital and your language level against the specific stream. Doing this first is what stops people spending money on a plan for a programme they cannot enter.
Step 2: choose the province
BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration, the Manitoba Entrepreneur Pathway and the others each set their own minimum investment, job creation and residency conditions. Match them to your capital and your sector.
Step 3: write the business plan
The plan must set out the investment, the ownership structure, the jobs you will create for Canadians and the financial detail behind them. It is the document the province assesses most closely, and it is covered in detail below.
Step 4: submit an Expression of Interest
You register a summary of the plan and your background, and the province scores it against its published grid. Higher-scoring registrations are invited first. If you are invited, you receive an invitation to apply and file the full application.
Step 5: sign the performance agreement
After conditional approval you sign an agreement with the province covering the investment, the jobs, your ownership share and your residency in the province. This is a binding commitment, and it is what your nomination is later measured against.
Step 6: move to Canada and build the business
You arrive on a temporary work permit, establish the company and run it. During the performance period you report to the province and evidence what you have done.
Step 7: apply for permanent residence
If you complete the performance agreement, the province may nominate you. You then apply to IRCC, which assesses admissibility and the application on its own merits and makes the final decision.
The business plan carries more weight than any other document, because it is the only evidence that you have a workable route to trading in Canada and creating employment there.
Why does it matter so much?
A professional plan is what separates a serious file from a hopeful one. Use this structure.
The idea and the objectives: state the business, the short and long-term goals and the competitive advantage in plain terms. This is the first section an assessor reads.
The business and its market: describe the product or service, the target customers and the revenue model. Answer one question directly: who buys this, and what problem does it solve for them?
Operations and management: explain how the business will run and what your role is. Your own management experience is part of the evidence here, not a separate matter.
Marketing and growth: set out how you will find customers and expand. This is where you show the business can scale rather than simply survive.
Financials and risk: give forecasts, cash flow, costs and the path to profitability. Name the risks that could damage the business and say how you would handle each one. Assessors trust a plan that admits risk more than one that pretends there is none.
Choosing the right business: pick something innovative or scalable that will genuinely employ people locally. Proper market research, realistic finances and a credible management team are what make a plan defensible.
A strong plan does not guarantee approval, and no adviser can offer one. What it does is answer the officer’s questions before they are asked. If you want a second opinion on yours, the team at Aval Visa can review it.
Processing depends entirely on the route you choose.
1. The federal Start-up Visa
First you secure a letter of support from a designated organisation, which commonly takes three to six months and can take longer if the organisation is at its annual cap. The permanent residence application then goes to IRCC. Processing times for this stream are published and updated by IRCC and have varied considerably. Check the current figure on IRCC’s processing times tool rather than relying on any adviser’s estimate, including this one.
2. Provincial entrepreneur streams
In British Columbia or Manitoba you register, wait for an invitation, arrive on a work permit, run the business through the performance period, and only then obtain a nomination and apply for permanent residence. Three to five years end to end is normal.
Nothing here is fixed. These are the factors that move it.
Files move faster when the evidence is complete on first submission and the plan clearly answers the province’s stated priorities. Staying in contact with the designated organisation or the provincial officer, and updating your file when circumstances change, prevents most avoidable delay.
Budget for two separate things: government fees, which are modest and fixed, and the real investment in the business, which is not. Amounts differ between the federal Start-up Visa and provincial entrepreneur streams. All figures are in Canadian dollars, and government fees change, so confirm them on the IRCC and provincial fee schedules before you transfer anything.
| Immigration pathway | Application processing fee | Permanent residence fee | Minimum investment / net worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Start-up Visa (Canada) | CAD 1,625 | CAD 515 | Venture capital fund: at least CAD 200,000 / angel investor: at least CAD 75,000 |
| British Columbia | CAD 1,150 | CAD 500 | Base stream: net worth CAD 600,000 and investment of CAD 200,000; regional stream: net worth CAD 300,000 and investment CAD 100,000 |
| Manitoba | CAD 1,150 | CAD 500 | Minimum net worth of CAD 500,000 and investment of CAD 250,000 |
| Nova Scotia | CAD 1,150 | CAD 500 | Investment of CAD 150,000, or CAD 100,000 outside the Halifax Regional Municipality |
Canada runs several business programmes and they are easy to confuse. The entrepreneur streams, the investor routes and the Canada Start-up Visa differ in capital, in control and in how much of your time they demand.
| Visa type | Type of participation | Key requirements | Capital / net worth required | Best suited for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneur visa | Actively operating a business | Management experience + business plan + job creation | Varies by province (e.g. Ontario: CAD 800,000 net worth + CAD 600,000 investment) | Those who want to run their own business in a specific province |
| Investor visa (Quebec programmes only) | Passive investment | No federal passive-investor programme; only Quebec’s investor and entrepreneur programmes and provincial entrepreneur streams | Set by Quebec’s programme; no federal figure | Those with substantial capital who want to invest without day-to-day management |
| Start-up visa | Launching an innovative start-up | Letter of support from a designated organisation + scalable start-up idea | CAD 200,000 (venture capital fund) / CAD 75,000 (angel investor), or business incubator support | Innovative entrepreneurs with scalable ideas applying directly for permanent residence |
Aval Visa is led by Hadi Imani, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, RCIC #R522575, regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. An RCIC can advise on and represent you in Canadian immigration matters. We do not give investment or tax advice, and litigation before the Federal Court is work for a Canadian lawyer rather than a consultant.
We will tell you plainly whether a business route fits your capital and your experience, or whether another programme would serve you better. What we cannot do, and what nobody can do, is influence the outcome: IRCC states that using a representative does not improve your chances of approval. What proper representation does is make sure the file is complete, consistent and filed against the right stream. To start, use the free assessment form or book a consultation.
1. How much capital do I need?
On the federal Start-up Visa, CAD 200,000 from a designated venture capital fund or CAD 75,000 from a designated angel group, with no minimum if you are accepted by a business incubator. Provincial streams instead test personal net worth, commonly from CAD 300,000 to CAD 600,000, with a direct investment from about CAD 100,000 to CAD 250,000.
2. Does my family get permanent residence too?
A spouse or common-law partner and dependent children can be included in the same application and, if it is approved, obtain permanent residence at the same time as the principal applicant.
3. Can I buy an existing business?
Provinces that allow it generally expect controlling ownership, hands-on day-to-day management, and a plan that protects the existing jobs and adds new ones. The exact conditions are set by each province, so check the stream’s current guide.
4. Can I move to another province later?
After you receive permanent residence, yes. Before that, your work permit and performance agreement tie you to the nominating province.
5. When can I apply for citizenship?
Once you have been physically present in Canada for 1,095 days within the five years before you apply, and you meet the other requirements of the Citizenship Act.
Related: Before you commit any money, look at the published approval rates and queue lengths: Canada Start-up Visa data
