Residency & Golden Visas / Canada / Route
Canada · Investment route
IRCC paused the Start-Up Visa on 30 June 2026. New applications stopped on 31 December 2025. This page records what happened and which routes are still open.
Last updated: 2026-10-01
Programme overviewنظرة عامة
Advising UAE residents on Canadian immigration from our Dubai office.
Risk notes
The Start-Up Visa is closed. XIPHIAS is not accepting new clients for this programme, and no new application can be submitted.
IRCC promised a replacement targeted pilot for immigrant entrepreneurs in 2026. No launched replacement is published on canada.ca as at 29 September 2026.
IRCC's Start-Up Visa eligibility page on canada.ca is the authoritative record of the programme's status.
Compliance
Intake for new applications ended 31 December 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (IRCC notice, 19 December 2025).
Holders of a valid 2025 commitment certificate had until 30 June 2026 to file. That window has passed.
The optional Start-Up Visa work permit stopped being accepted on 19 December 2025, except extensions for people already in Canada on one.
Applications accepted before the cut-off continue to be processed.
The 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan sets the Federal Business category at 500 admissions per year.
Questionsأسئلة شائعة
This route, answered.
No. IRCC paused the Start-Up Visa on 30 June 2026 and stopped accepting new applications on 31 December 2025. No new application can be filed.
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