Provincial Entrepreneur Programs

The Start–up Visa Program (SUVP) is a program that aims to encourage entrepreneurs to start, create, and grow their businesses in Canada. The program is intended to grant permanent residence (PR) to business owners whose businesses have the potential to:

• Start innovative businesses in Canada;
• Creating jobs for Canadians;
• establish within a sector or industry;
• Can compete on a global scale.

Criteria for Eligibility

To be qualified for the Start-up Visa Program, you should:

• Have a qualifying business
• Get a letter of support from a designated organization

Note: If you don’t include the letter of support or meet any of the other requirements, your application will be refused.

• Meet the language skills requirements
• Bring enough money to settle

Note: As a participant in the SUVP, you are not required to invest your own money, but you must provide proof of funding and investment.

To build your business in Canada, you can also apply for a temporary work permit, while your PR application is being processed by our consultants! To get all the details on the Startup visa business immigration program, connect with us now!

Canada’s central provinces offer agricultural business programs permitting farm owners and operators to develop their businesses in Canada.

One of them is the Alberta Farm Stream which is managed by the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) in close association with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. The stream is designed to attract applicants who have the necessary farm management skills and financial resources to invest in a farming enterprise in Alberta.

Operating capital and an exploratory trip are generally needed. As with the generalized provincial entrepreneur programs, these programs usually require a commitment to live in the Province.

Eligibility or Requirements
To qualify under the Farm Stream, the applicant must have:

• Managerial expertise with an active farm business is required;
• It takes skills, education, and work experience to build a profitable farming enterprise in Alberta;
• a business strategy for the agriculture venture that will be created in Alberta;
• evidence that the proposed farming business can be funded by a Canadian financial institution;
• A minimum of $500,000 should be put into the farming business as equity;
• A minimum net worth of $500,000 requirement or proof of funding.

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is a pathway for qualified entrepreneurs to immigrate to Canada and reside in the province.

Entrepreneurs seeking to invest their funds and expertise in British Columbia’s business opportunities can apply for the BC Entrepreneur immigration stream.

BC PNP Business Immigration Requirements

To be eligible, you should:

• Have a personal net worth of at least CAD$600,000
• Express business and/or management understanding
• Must have, or be qualified for, legal immigration status in Canada
• Possess basic English or French language proficiency equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 or higher
• You should also have been lawfully acknowledged in the country where you presently live
• Create a qualified new business or acquire and develop an existing business
• Should invest at least CAD$200,000 in the business
• Generate at least one new full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in the business

Applicants who succeed will eventually receive a provincial nomination from BC, which will allow them to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

British Columbia Entrepreneur Immigration Streams are:

British Columbia Entrepreneur

The stream is for business owners and managers who wish to live permanently in British Columbia and can apply for the British Columbia Entrepreneur stream.

British Columbia Entrepreneur Regional Pilot

This Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot (EI – Regional Pilot) is centered on inviting entrepreneurs to establish businesses in regional communities. This will assist the communities’ economic development demands and promote investments outside urban areas.

British Columbia Strategic Projects

The stream targets the most successful international-owned companies that wish to start a new business or branch operation in British Columbia.To get detailed information about the BC PNP business stream and its requirements, connect with our consultants today!

The New Brunswick Entrepreneurial stream is designed to target skilled business owners and senior managers who wish to own a business in New Brunswick (N.B.) and oversee it while living in the Province.

Minimum Requirements:

To qualify for the stream, there are no requirements for an Express Entry profile and a job offer.  However, your business requirements must include or have:

• An economic value to the Province
• You should have at least 33.33 percent ownership and undertake an active senior management role in the day-to-day function of the business (work experience);
• A sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation; (in the case of a partnership, the other partner(s) should be a Permanent Resident or Canadian Citizen);
• Continual operation of current business or the formation of a new business
• A private-sector, for-profit entity with the primary objective of making profits through the sale of goods and/or services
• Deemed a “permanent establishment” as specified under subsection 400(2) of the Canadian Income Tax Regulations, 1985
• Must show a connection to the province;
• Language proficiency in English or French with CLB level 5;
• Level of Education
• Age between 22 and 55 years

Investment Requirements

• Candidates must provide proof of a personal net worth of at least $600,000 CAD.
• Their financial wealth must be immediately available to the extent of at least $300,000 CAD.
• To be eligible for this stream, an applicant must put at least $250,000 CAD into the company they start and actively run in New Brunswick.

If you are eligible for the New Brunswick Entrepreneurial stream, then connect with our team for a seamless application process. Refer to our website for all business immigration programs!

The Northwest Territories (NWT) Business Stream is designed for business owners who desire to launch or purchase a company and run it in the NWT. It is intended for foreigners with commercial experience and financial resources to improve the economic climate for Canadians in the NWT.

Eligibility and Requirements

To qualify for NWT business immigration programs, you must have:

• A CLB 4 in English or French and some related experience and education
• A minimum of 33% of a business formed in NWT

Entrepreneurs nominated by NWT should sign a business performance agreement and then acquire a work permit to begin a business before being nominated for permanent residence. 

Investment Requirements:

In Yellowknife: Net Worth: $500,000 | Investment: $300,000 | Refundable Deposit: $75,000 

Outside Yellowknife: Net Worth: $250,000 | Investment: $150,000

The entire process of getting permanent residence under the NWT Business Stream may take two years

Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) is one of the streams that target experienced business owners or senior business managers who want to settle in Nova Scotia. The stream is operated by the province of Nova Scotia as a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Requirements

There are no requirements for Express Entry Profile, connection, and a job offer. However, there stand minimum requirements for language, education, experience, and investment.

• Education Qualification
  To be qualified for the Nova Scotia Entrepreneur stream, candidates should have achieved a full-time diploma or degree of a minimum of two years in Nova Scotia and maintain a valid post-graduate work permit.
• Language Proficiency

Candidate must have an official language proficiency of level 5 or higher in order to be eligible for the Nova Scotia Entrepreneur stream.

• Work Experience

Candidates must possess 1 year of managing/owning the business (33% shares) in Nova Scotia or 5 years of senior business management.

• Investment Requirement

Candidates must prove that they have a personal net worth of at least $600,000 CAD. Also, successful applicants must invest a minimum of $150,000 CAD in a Nova Scotia business that they establish and manage.

The Yukon is for individuals who want to run their own enterprises with demonstrated entrepreneurship and business skills to support the economy of the northern territory. Everyone who submits an application through the Yukon Business Nominee Program (YBNP) must want to own and run a business in Yukon. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will provide nominees with a letter of support for a two-year work permit (IRCC). After these two years, if the applicant is eligible, the territory will assist them in filing an application for permanent residency with the IRCC.

Program Requirements:

Investment Requirements:  

• Candidate must invest a minimum of $300,000.
• Must demonstrate a net worth of Net Worth at least $500,000.
• The business should be on the Strategic Sector List

Work Experience

Require three years of business proprietorship or administration experience and a full of five years of pertinent experience

Language Proficiency

Necessitates English skill at IELTS level 6 or French skill at TEF level 4

The Business Investor Stream (BIS) permits Manitoba to engage and nominate eligible business investors and entrepreneurs who intend and could start or buy businesses in Manitoba. The stream encompasses two pathways:

The Entrepreneur Pathway:

This pathway permits Manitoba to recruit and nominate qualified business people who have the intention and capability to reside in Manitoba and establish, purchase a business, or become partners in an existing business within the first 24 months of arrival in Canada on a temporary work permit.

Program Requirements

• At least three years of full-time work experience in the past five years as an active business owner or working in a senior management role;
• Business owners should have a minimum of 33 1/3% ownership
• Minimum CLB/NCLC 5
• Minimum Canadian high school certificate equivalent
• No age limit: however, ranking points are allocated to candidates 25 to 49 years of age
• At least an investment of $250,000 for businesses in the Manitoba Capital Region and $150,000 for outside of the Manitoba Capital Region.
• The business being proposed should establish or retain a minimum of one job for a Canadian Citizen or a Permanent Resident in Manitoba (not including owners of the business and/or their close relatives).
• A business research visit permits the candidate to carry out extensive research on their future business investment or proposal.
• The Business Research Visit should be conducted no more than one year before the submission of your EOI.

Farm Investor Pathway

The Farm Investor Pathway is for candidates who intend to establish and operate a farm operation in rural Manitoba.

Program Requirements:

• At least three years of farm ownership and operation familiarity backed by certifiable documents;
• Language skills in either of Canada’s two official languages;
• You should have at least $300,000;
• You should prove adaptability, explicitly concerning practical farming skills, technical knowledge, and experience in technological-based farming practices that will shift precisely to Manitoba’s existing primary farm production industry;
• You should have a minimum investment of $500,000;
• The MPNP needs you to perform value-added farm business endeavors in Manitoba;
• The MPNP may request authentication of your net worth and financial evidence by a designated third-party service provider;

Note: The program requirements list is not exhaustive. To know about the Manitoba Business Investor stream and its pathways in detail, contact our experts now!

The PEI Government has lately shut the Provincial Nominee Program entrepreneur stream as of September 20, 2018. PEI no longer admits submissions from immigrants looking to set up a business for permanent residency.
Entrepreneur immigrants could currently apply through the Work Permit stream. Candidates would reside in PEI and operate a functioning business for one year prior to being selected can obtain a permanent residency.

Requirements to Apply For Entrepreneur Nomination Through the Work Permit Stream:

• Net worth: $600,000
• Education: Secondary school (high school diploma);
• Age: 21-59 years at the time of application;
• Language: Candidates require to achieve a CLB level 4;
• Experience:
• Assignable management skills and previous employment or business ownership knowledge.
• Intent to reside and work in PEI at the same time providing day-to-day active and continuing management of your PEI-based business

Get detailed information about Prince Edward Entrepreneur Program for Canada (PEI). Find out if you are eligible for Canadian immigration under the PEI Entrepreneur stream.

The Entrepreneur Stream is an immigration stream under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). This stream is for entrepreneurs not residing in Canada and is keen on starting a new business or buying an existing business in Ontario. It provides an entrepreneur (and up to one foreign national business partner) the chance to be selected for permanent residence as soon as their business is launched in Ontario.

Candidates need to go through a two-stage process:

Stage 1

• Enroll an expression of interest through an email
• If requested, submit an online application
• You and your business partner must attend an in-person interview at the OINP office
• If your application is positive, you must sign a performance agreement

Stage 2

• The Ontario Government will issue a temporary work permit support letter
• Later, you can submit an application to IRCC for a temporary work permit
• You have 20 months to execute your business plan and present a final report
• If your business meets all conditions, you will be asked for documentation for nomination for permanent residence.

Program Requirements

• Business experience
• Business owner or senior manager for at least 24 months of the last 60 months
• Must have an operational role in the business and own at least one-third of the business.
• Net worth
• Business Inside the Greater Toronto Area – At least a net worth of 800,000 CDN.
• Beyond the Greater Toronto Area – At least a net worth of $400,000 CDN.
• Business is in the information and communications technology/digital communications segment –  at least a net worth of $400,000 CDN.
• Investment
• Inside the Greater Toronto Area – At least an investment of $600,000 CDN
• Beyond the Greater Toronto Area –  At least an investment of $200,000 CDN 4.
• Active involvement
• Capital investment objective
• Job formation

General Business Requirements

In supplement to meeting the lowest conditions listed above, you should also meet the general business requirements listed underneath.

• Business objective
• Canadian and Ontario legal necessities
• Permanent business
• Business in Ontario
• Language Proficiency
• Residency Requirement
• Business Partner

Quebec Entrepreneur is a program that assists immigrants who are interested in starting a business or acquiring and operating an existing one in the province. Candidates may both purchase a business or begin a business in Quebec. There are two streams in this class.

For the first stream:

• Up to three foreign nationals can apply to utilize a similar project
• Should submit a business plan establishing the business project
• Should submit a service offer from the business accelerator, incubator, or university entrepreneurship center

The second stream necessitates the candidate to settle down in Quebec and manage a business they both purchased or opened.

The following circumstances apply in the second stream:

• Net Worth: $900,000;
• At least an Investment of $300,000 is situated in the Montreal area ($200,000 if beyond the Montreal area);
• Should deliver a business plan;
• If establishing a business, the candidate should retain and control a minimum of 25% of equity capital;
• If buying/obtaining a business, the candidate should retain and control a minimum of 51% of its equity capital;
• Submissions are evaluated grounded on age, education, training, language skills, visits to Quebec, family in Quebec, and other factors

Quebec Investor Program

This program is the most popular in Canada, with only a limited number of spots available each year. In order to qualify for the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, you must meet the following requirements:

• A net worth of at least $2 million must be documented
• A minimum of 2 years of full-time business experience within the last 5 years is required
• Investing in either of the following is acceptable to you:
• An interest-free deposit of $1,200,000.00 CAD with the Government of Canada for a period of five years
• There will be a one-time payment of $350,000.00 CAD, which cannot be refunded

Quebec Entrepreneur Program (QEP)

An entrepreneur interested in immigrating to Quebec can apply for one of two components of the program:

Component 1 – Business incubators, accelerators, or universities in the province support the establishment of new businesses or start-ups.
Component 2 – The focus of this program is on businesses that are owned and operated by their owners.