Canada Start-up Visa

Canada Start-Up Visa

Canada has closed the Start-up Visa to new applicants: intake for new applications ended on 31 December 2025, and IRCC paused the programme on 30 June 2026. The details below describe how the programme worked.

There are many start-ups that get started across the globe. Few succeed a lot fail. There could be many reasons why a start-up could fail apart from the micro factors of business. One of the reasons could be the bureaucracy and the stringent rules pertaining to start-ups in a particular country. It could also be that the start-up is not conducive to the environment of a particular country. There are many people in the world who would have relocated to another country with the sole purpose of starting a business in the new country. This is where the Canada Start-up visa comes into the picture.

Canada Start-up Visa was designed for all those who intended to relocate to Canada to start a business. The applicants had to prove the viability of the business idea they intended to start, and successful applicants received permanent residency in Canada.

Applicants could also ask for an optional work permit to start building the business in Canada while their permanent residence application was processed. IRCC stopped accepting that work permit on 19 December 2025.

To qualify for this program, the applicant needed a letter of support and a commitment certificate from a designated organization. There were three categories of designated organizations –

1. Venture capital funds

2. Angel investor groups

3. Business incubators

Up to 5 people could apply for a Start-up visa under the same business idea. However, each of them had to obtain an independent commitment certificate and letter of support to carry on with their respective application.

To be eligible for this program the applicant had to fulfill the following conditions –

1. They had to have a qualifying business

2. They had to obtain a letter of support from a designated organization

3. They had to plan to live outside the province of Quebec

• They had to meet the language benchmark of CLB 5 in English or French

• They had to submit bank statements to prove that they had enough savings to support themselves and their loved ones in Canada, without depending on public funds

• The applicant had to submit a police certificate stating that they had a clean background

4. The applicant had to pass a medical examination.

The program required each applicant to hold at least 10% of the voting rights in the business, and the applicants and the designated organization together had to hold more than 50% of the total voting rights.

Canada still invites entrepreneurs through provincial business immigration streams, such as those in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, each with its own investment and net worth requirements. The applicant will need to provide the right business plan to ensure things work out as would be required.

It is advisable for the applicant to work with the right immigration consultancy firm that can help them with international business ventures. XIPHIAS Immigration and our expertise in the investment migration domain can help you in your immigration process.

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