Business immigration: start-up visa, self-employed, and investor routes
Entrepreneurs, investors, and self-employed people who want permanent residence through a business or cultural or athletic contribution.
Steps, in order
- For the Start-up Visa, secure support from a designated organization (venture capital fund, angel investor group, or business incubator) and meet the ownership and language requirements.
- For the Self-Employed Persons Program, show relevant experience and the intent and ability to be self-employed in Canada in cultural activities or athletics.
- For Quebec business routes, follow Quebec's own entrepreneur, self-employed, and investor programs, which have their own net-worth, investment, and French requirements.
- For provincial entrepreneur streams, check the province's business, farm, or graduate-entrepreneur stream in the catalog — most require a business plan, an exploratory visit or interview, and a performance agreement.
Who is eligible — the essentials
- The federal Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons programs are currently marked paused in the site's catalog; check the official pages before planning around them.
- Quebec's Investor Program requires a high net worth, a five-year investment, and a non-refundable contribution, plus French ability and residence in Quebec.
- Provincial entrepreneur streams are generally invitation-only and employer-style performance agreements apply after arrival.
Documents you will usually need
- Letter of support from a designated organization (Start-up Visa)
- Business plan and proof of funds and business experience
- Evidence of relevant cultural or athletic experience (self-employed route)
- Net-worth and investment evidence (Quebec investor route)
- Language test results
Common mistakes
- Planning around a paused federal program without checking its current intake status.
- Treating a provincial business nomination as automatic permanent residence.
- Underestimating the post-arrival performance conditions on entrepreneur streams.
Check before you apply: The Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons programs are marked paused in this site's catalog. No single canonical service URL was confirmed for either at build time, so this page links to IRCC's program-finder hub — check the official pages for current intake status before planning around either program.
Official source
General information only — not legal advice. Immigration rules change. Always check the official source above before applying.