Self-employed Visa to Canada
How to immigrate to Canada as a Self-employed person
Canada Start-up Visa – Infographic Description
Eligibility
Prove your business idea is supported by a designated investor organization (Get letter of support).
Each applicant must hold at least 10 percent of the voting rights in the business, and the designated organization and the applicants must jointly hold more than 50 percent of the voting rights in the business.
You must secure a minimum investment of $200,000 if the investment comes from a designated Canadian venture capital fund:
Blackberry Partners Fund II LP (doing business as Relay Ventures Fund II)
Celtic House Venture Partners
Celtic House Venture Partners Fund III L.P.
Celtic House Venture Partners Fund IV LP
DRI Capital Inc.
Golden Opportunities Fund Inc.
iNovia Capital Inc.
New Brunswick Innovation Foundation Inc. / Fondation de l’innovation du Nouveau-Brunswick Inc.
Northwater Intellectual Property Fund
OMERS Ventures Management Inc.
Pangaea Ventures Fund III, LP
PRIVEQ Capital Funds
PRIVEQ III Limited Partnership
Quorum Group
Advantage Growth (No.2) L.P.
Ontario SME Capital Corporation
Quorum Investment Pool Limited Partnership
Quorum Secured Equity Trust
Rho Canada Ventures
Summerhill Venture Partners Management Inc.
Tandem Expansion Management Inc.
Vanedge Capital Limited Partnership
Version One Ventures
Wellington Financial LP
Westcap Mgt. Ltd.
Yaletown Venture Partners Inc.
Or, you must secure a minimum investment of $75,000 if the investment comes from a designated Canadian angel investor group:
Angel One Network Inc.
First Angel Network Association
Golden Triangle Angel Network
Designated business incubator
To be eligible for the start-up visa, you must be accepted into one of the following designated Canadian business incubator programs:
Communitech
Empowered Startups Ltd.
Extreme Innovations
INcubes Inc.
Innovacorp
Innovate Calgary
Interactive Niagara Media Cluster o/a Innovate Niagara
LaunchPad PEI Inc.
Real Investment Fund III L.P. o/a FounderFuel
Ryerson Futures Inc.
Toronto Business Development Centre
Waterloo Accelerator Centre
Language Requirements
You must meet the minimum level of CLB 5 in either English or French for all four language abilities: speaking, reading, listening and writing.
Education
You must provide proof of your education with your application. Specifically, you will need:
proof of having completed at least one year of post-secondary education
proof that you were in good standing during at least one year while you were attending a post‑secondary institution
Your proof of education may be in the form of transcripts and a letter of good standing, or certificate or diploma or degree.
Settlement funds
| Number of Family Members | Funds Required (in Canadian dollars) |
| 1 | $12,164 |
| 2 | $15,143 |
| 3 | $18,617 |
| 4 | $22,603 |
| 5 | $25,636 |
| 6 | $28,913 |
| 7 or more | $32,191 |
Self-employed persons
Eligibility
- Relevant experience as an artist, farmer or athlete
- Selection criteria
You will then be assessed against five selection criteria and a point system. You must obtain a minimum of 35 points if you want to immigrate to Canada as a business immigrant.
| Selection criteria | Maximum points |
| Education | 25 |
| Experience | 35 |
| Age | 10 |
| Ability in English and/or French | 24 |
| Adaptability | 6 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
- Medical, security requirements
You and your family members must have a medical exam and obtain police certificates.
- Settlement Funds
You must also show that you have enough money to support yourself and your dependants after you arrive in Canada.
Sources:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/eligibility.asp
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/self-employed/apply-who.asp
