Entrepreneur Immigration
There are various ways to pursue Entrepreneur Immigration to Canada. The choice of options depends on the business and personal plans, but can be generally summarised as follows:
- Temporary Residence through Federal Immigration Program
- From Temporary to Permanent Residence through Federal Immigration Programs
- Temporary to Permanent Residence through combination of Federal and Provincial/Territorial Immigration Programs
- Get Permanent Residence through Provincial/Territorial Immigration Programs
- Permanent Residence through Federal Immigration Program (currently suspended)
Permanent Residence through Federal Immigration Program
N.B.: The Federal Government of Canada suspended this Program. The program is under review and is likely to be redesigned and launched again in the future.
Canadian Government encourages qualified entrepreneurs to consider applying for permanent residence in Canada.
Before applying for a permanent residence in Canada under Entrepreneur category, a prospective applicant may want to come to Canada on Exploratory Visit. The Exploratory Visit to Canada gives the prospective Entrepreneur Applicant the opportunity to acquire first-hand knowledge about living conditions in Canada as well as the way of doing business in Canada. Canadian Provinces and Territories strongly encourage prospective Business Immigrants to come to Canada on an Exploratory Visit.
Entrepreneur Immigration Category Requirements
Prospective Entrepreneur must meet the following requirements:
- Have business experience;
- Have a legally obtained minimum net worth of $300,000; and
- Provide a written statement to Canadian Immigration officials that the Entrepreneur intends and will be able to establish a business in Canada within three years of becoming a permanent resident that will correspond to certain established requirements for a period of at least one year and within those first three years (failure to satisfy these requirements may lead to loss of permanent residence).
The following factors are considered when assessing Entrepreneur’s Business Experience:
- qualifying business (not a business for deriving investment income; Entrepreneur must have managed and controlled certain percentage of equity in the business, and this share of equity should correspond to at least two of the following factors: 2 full-time job equivalents in a given year; Annual Sales of $ 500,000; Annual Net Income $ 50,000; Net Assets in a given year $ 125,000);
- duration of business experience (business experience should have been accumulated in 1-year periods during the period beginning 5 years before the date of application and ending at the time when a decision on the application is made);
- Entrepreneur’s role in the business (must have managed and controlled a sufficient percentage of equity of the qualifying business).
Entrepreneur applicants are in addition assessed according to the following selection criteria for entrepreneurs:
- Business Experience: Maximum 35
- Age: Maximum 10
- Education: Maximum 25
- Official Languages (English and French): Maximum 24
- Adaptability: Maximum 6
TOTAL: Maximum 100
The Entrepreneur Applicant must have at least 35 points out of 100 available points.
After immigrating to Canada, the Entrepreneur must prove that within the first three years the Entrepreneur’s involvement in business in Canada has satisfied a set of requirements during at least one year (Entrepreneur must have controlled at least 33.3% of equity of a qualifying Canadian business; must have provided active and ongoing management of the qualifying Canadian business; must have created at least one full-time job equivalent in the Canadian business for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, excluding entrepreneur and his/her family members).
Québec Entrepreneur Immigration
Québec has it own Quebec Immigrant Entrepreneur Program that is similar to Federal Immigrant Entrepreneur Program. However, the quota for Québec program has been filled and no new applications will be accepted under Québec program until new announcement by the Québec Government.
For advice and assistance, please contact our Canadian business immigration lawyer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada >