Business Immigration Consultant in Canada

MAK provides licensed RCIC-led business immigration consulting, with CPA financial-analysis depth, for entrepreneurs and business owners assessing federal or provincial pathways, work-permit strategy, source of funds, business plans, and application evidence.

Written and reviewed by Usman Khalil, RCIC (R709592), a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant and member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Last reviewed: September 7, 2026.

Independent publication: CPA Practice Advisor published Usman Khalil’s article, When Client Records Become Immigration Evidence: A CPA Record-Preservation Framework for Source of Funds, on record preservation and financial-evidence consistency. This independent publisher byline reflects his work at the intersection of Canadian immigration and accounting; it is not a government endorsement.

Business immigration to Canada is not a single program and it is not a way to buy permanent residence. It is a set of federal and provincial routes, each with its own eligibility rules, current status, and staged process that usually starts with a work permit. This page explains the routes realistically available in 2026 and where a licensed RCIC working with a CPA adds the most value.

Status in 2026: The federal Start-Up Visa Program is paused. IRCC is not accepting new permanent residence applications, and the June 30, 2026 deadline applied only to applicants who already held a valid 2025 commitment certificate. IRCC’s page carries the status label “Paused” and states that the program is closed to all other applications (IRCC, checked 7 September 2026, page last modified July 21, 2026). Applications accepted before the pause continue to be processed. The Self-Employed Persons Program is also paused. Ontario has closed every OINP stream except the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream (Government of Ontario, checked 7 September 2026, page last updated July 14, 2026), and Saskatchewan permanently closed all Entrepreneur and Farm immigration pathways effective March 27, 2025 (Saskatchewan.ca, checked 7 September 2026). Provincial entrepreneur streams in the remaining provinces, and the C11 entrepreneur work permit, are the routes worth assessing right now, and their status varies sharply by province.

Business immigration eligibility assessment: what we need to know first

Before comparing programs, MAK screens the facts that determine whether a current business-immigration route deserves a detailed review. This is a MAK intake framework, not a universal IRCC or provincial eligibility checklist. Each pathway applies its own current criteria.

Useful documents for the first assessment: an updated CV, a short summary of business ownership or senior-management history, your approximate verifiable net worth and liquid investment range, a brief source-of-funds summary, the Canadian business idea and preferred province, and language or education results where available. Do not manufacture documents or move money simply to make a profile appear stronger.

Where the financial trail is the main uncertainty, review our source-of-funds guide. Where the proposed business, investment schedule or projections are the main uncertainty, review our business-plan guide.

1. The federal picture in 2026

IRCC’s Start-Up Visa page carries the status label “Paused” and states that the program is closed to all other applications. The June 30, 2026 deadline that appears on it applied to people who already held a valid 2025 commitment certificate, not to new applicants (IRCC, checked 7 September 2026, page last modified July 21, 2026). IRCC will continue processing applications accepted before the pause. The Self-Employed Persons Program, which is for certain cultural and athletic applicants rather than general entrepreneurs, also carries the status label “Paused” on IRCC’s own page (IRCC, checked 7 September 2026, page last modified March 11, 2026). IRCC’s 2026–27 Departmental Plan says the department intends to create a new high-impact Start-up Visa pilot, but eligibility criteria and launch details have not been published, so it is not a current application route.

Two provincial changes matter as much as the federal ones. Ontario states on its own OINP page that the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream has launched and that all other streams are now closed (Government of Ontario, checked 7 September 2026, page last updated July 14, 2026). Saskatchewan states that, effective March 27, 2025, the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program has permanently closed all Entrepreneur and Farm immigration pathways, with no new applications, no new expressions of interest and no further invitations to apply (Saskatchewan.ca, checked 7 September 2026). That leaves provincial entrepreneur streams in the other provinces, and the federal C11 entrepreneur work permit, as the routes worth assessing right now. Section 2b below gives the published thresholds for each one.

2. Provincial entrepreneur streams

Provincial entrepreneur streams are the main area to assess in 2026, but their status varies sharply by province. Some are open and competitive, some are invitation only and discretionary, and some are not currently holding draws. Presenting any of these as open to everyone would be inaccurate, which is why each of our provincial pages carries a current status line.

Most provincial business immigration programs follow the same sequence: you file an expression of interest, wait for an invitation to apply, prove a minimum net worth and a minimum investment, and sign a performance agreement with the province before the work permit stage and, later, the nomination that goes to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence. Quebec selects its own business immigrants, including through the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, under separate provincial rules.

2b. The provincial entrepreneur streams compared

Every provincial entrepreneur stream asks the same four questions in a different order: how much are you worth, how much will you invest, will you run the business yourself, and will you create a job. The figures below are the published minimums, read from each province’s own official page on the date shown in the status column. Meeting a minimum gets you into the process. It does not get you nominated.

Read the status column first. A stream that is closed, or that is not holding draws, is not a plan.

Four provinces and territories carry no figures above. Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon remain unverified in this table because their official pages could not be read when this comparison was built on 7 September 2026: Manitoba returned a 403, Nova Scotia would not connect, and Prince Edward Island and Yukon served bot checks. New Brunswick has now been rechecked against the Government of New Brunswick and is shown with current figures above. Rather than print figures we have not verified from the province’s own page, the remaining four rows say only that status was not confirmed. If one of those is the province you are interested in, ask us and we will read the current page with you.

Three things the table will not tell you

A minimum is a floor, not a target. In a stream where candidates are ranked and invited, a file that only just clears the minimum rarely gets an invitation. The realistic figure is set by who else is in the pool that month, not by the published number.

The money has to be provably yours. Every stream in this table will ask where the funds came from and will want a documented trail, often verified by a designated third-party firm. Applicants fail here far more often than they fail on the amount. See our guide to source of funds for business immigration.

A work permit is not permanent residence. In most of these streams you arrive on a temporary work permit, build the business, meet a performance agreement, and only then get nominated. Between arrival and nomination you are a temporary resident, and the business has to actually work.

Our stream-by-stream pages carry the detail:

• BC Entrepreneur Immigration: Base
• BC Entrepreneur Immigration: Regional
• BC Entrepreneur Immigration: Strategic Projects
• Alberta Advantage Immigration Program
• Alberta Graduate Entrepreneur Stream
• Ontario Entrepreneur Stream: status
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program
• Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program
• Northwest Territories Nominee Program
• Manitoba Entrepreneur Pathway
• Nova Scotia Entrepreneur Stream
• New Brunswick Business Immigration Stream
• Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program
• Yukon Nominee Program

2c. Ontario changed in 2026: what to do if you were planning OINP Entrepreneur

If your plan was to buy or start a business in Ontario and be nominated through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, that plan needs rebuilding.

Ontario states on its own OINP page that the programme is changing, that the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream has launched, and that all other streams are now closed (Government of Ontario, checked 7 September 2026; that page was last updated July 14, 2026). The former Entrepreneur Stream page now redirects into the Ontario government’s archived websites, which is where Ontario puts pages for programmes that are no longer running.

What this does not mean. It does not mean you cannot start a business in Ontario. It means Ontario is not currently offering a provincial nomination in exchange for doing it.

What is left if Ontario was the plan.

The C11 entrepreneur work permit. This is federal, so it does not depend on any province. If you can show that your business will bring a significant economic, social or cultural benefit to Canada, or create jobs for Canadians and permanent residents, a C11 work permit can let you come and run it. It is temporary and it is not permanent residence, but it is the one business route into Ontario that is open today. See our C11 work permit guide.

A different province. British Columbia and Alberta both have live entrepreneur routes with published thresholds, set out in the table above. Both require you to live there and run the business yourself, so this is a relocation decision, not a paperwork decision.

A different category entirely. If you or your spouse have skilled work experience, an Express Entry route may be faster and cheaper than any business route. We check this at the start of every business consultation, because for some business owners it is the better answer. See Express Entry and Canadian Experience Class.

Before you commit money to any of these, get the route confirmed. Rebuilding a plan after a province closes a stream is ordinary work. Rebuilding it after you have already bought a business is not.

3. Common evidence areas in business-immigration files

Across business-immigration routes, three evidence areas often need especially careful reconciliation because a strong application is judged on more than whether the applicant can show a large balance.

Where the money came from. The amount matters, but the source and movement of the funds matter too. A province or IRCC wants an unbroken, documented trail from the origin of the funds to the account they now sit in: employment income, dividends, the sale of a property or a business, an inheritance, a gift with a deed. Cash with no origin, a loan structured to look like equity, or a transfer routed through an account you cannot explain will sink an otherwise strong file. Bank statements alone are not a source of funds; they are the last page of the story.

That you are worth what you say you are worth. Several provinces require a net-worth verification carried out by a designated third-party firm, which will value assets, subtract liabilities, and check that the assets are genuinely yours rather than the family’s or the company’s. Assets you cannot document, or cannot legally move, do not count.

That the business is real and the numbers behind it hold up. A business plan that assumes revenue with no stated basis, or job creation the cash flow cannot fund, will not survive review. The plan has to reconcile with the investment figure, with the market, and with what you personally can run.

This is why MAK runs business files with a licensed immigration consultant and a Chartered Professional Accountant together. The immigration side decides which stream, if any, fits, and keeps the filing compliant. The accounting side builds the source-of-funds record, the net-worth statement and the financial half of the business plan so that the three documents say the same thing. When those records materially disagree, the inconsistency can create questions that the application should be ready to explain.

MAK practitioner review: From an RCIC/CPA review perspective, I do not treat the bank balance, net-worth evidence where applicable, and the business plan as separate packages. I trace material funds back to their documented origin, reconcile major transfers across the record, and check whether the business plan uses figures that the supporting financial documents can explain. This is review methodology, not a separate IRCC requirement, but it helps expose contradictions before they become part of the filed record.

4. Why an RCIC and a CPA together

The licensed consultant confirms which stream, if any, currently fits your profile, manages the immigration filing, and keeps the file compliant. The CPA side supports the source of funds documentation, the financial portions of the business plan, and the net worth verification that several provinces require through designated accounting firms. Used together, the immigration and accounting perspectives can help keep eligibility analysis, financial evidence and business-plan assumptions internally consistent with the applicable program requirements.

5. Business Immigration Consultant in Canada: How MAK Helps

We start with an honest business immigration eligibility assessment of your profile against the streams that are actually active right now, followed by a realistic plan for funds and business establishment, before any application is filed.

5b. What business immigration costs

There are three separate money questions and people mix them up constantly.

1. The investment. This is money you put into a business and keep at risk. It is not a fee, nobody refunds it, and the amount is set by the stream. The published minimums are in the table in section 2b.

2. Government application fees. These are paid to IRCC, and business immigration sits in its own, higher fee band. The figures below are from IRCC’s fee list, checked 7 September 2026, and apply to Quebec business immigration, the Self-Employed Persons Program and the Start-Up Visa.

(IRCC fee list, checked 7 September 2026; that page carries its own date modified of July 2, 2026. Fees change, so confirm them before you pay.)

If you are nominated by a province and then apply federally through an economic category rather than a business category, the federal fee is lower: $1,590 with the right of permanent residence fee, or $990 without it, per adult, plus $270 per dependent child (IRCC fee list, checked 7 September 2026). Provinces also charge their own application or registration fees, which vary by province and are not on IRCC’s list.

3. Professional costs. Business plans, net-worth verification by a designated accounting firm, legal work on a purchase, and immigration representation. These are real and they are not small. Ask for them in writing before you start, from everyone you are considering, including us. MAK’s are published at Professional Fees.

Other entrepreneur and business pathway resources

These pages cover entrepreneur and business pathways across Canada. Status and intake vary sharply: some routes are active, some are invitation-limited, and some have been consolidated or closed, so confirm the current status on the linked page before you act. Where a province’s own official page could be read on 7 September 2026, its published status and thresholds are set out in the comparison table in section 2b above.

• BC Entrepreneur Immigration: Regional
• BC Entrepreneur Immigration: Strategic Projects
• Alberta Farm Stream (AAIP)
• Alberta Graduate Entrepreneur Stream (AAIP)
• Alberta Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream (AAIP)
• Manitoba International Student Entrepreneur Pilot (ISEP)
• Manitoba Farm Investor Pathway (MPNP)
• Nova Scotia International Graduate Entrepreneur (consolidated under Entrepreneur)
• Newfoundland and Labrador International Graduate Entrepreneur
• Yukon Business Nominee Program (YBNP)
• Northwest Territories Business Stream (NTNP)

Closed, paused, or status pages

These programs are not currently active routes. The pages are kept as resources so you can confirm their status and find active alternatives.

• Start-Up Visa Canada — paused. IRCC is not accepting new permanent residence applications and states the program is closed to all other applications (IRCC, checked 7 September 2026)
• Self-Employed Persons Program, Federal — paused (IRCC, checked 7 September 2026, page last modified March 11, 2026)
• Ontario Entrepreneur Stream, OINP — closed. Ontario has launched the Ontario Workforce Priority stream and closed all other OINP streams (Ontario.ca, checked 7 September 2026)
• Saskatchewan Entrepreneur and Farm — permanently closed. Saskatchewan states that, effective March 27, 2025, the SINP has permanently closed all Entrepreneur and Farm immigration pathways: no new applications, no new expressions of interest and no further invitations to apply (Saskatchewan.ca, checked 7 September 2026)
• New Brunswick Post-Graduate Entrepreneurial — status not stated here. New Brunswick’s official page could not be loaded on 7 September 2026, so this entry makes no claim about the stream either way. Ask us and we will read the current page with you

C11 Entrepreneur Work Permit

The C11 Entrepreneur Work Permit is a temporary, LMIA-exempt federal work permit for eligible business owners who can show a significant social, cultural or economic benefit, or job creation for Canadians or permanent residents. It lets you come to Canada to run your own business, but it is a temporary work permit, not permanent residence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Funding and source of funds: Business programs care less about how much money you have and more about whether you can prove it is legally yours. See our guide to Source of Funds for Business Immigration.

Weighing a temporary work permit against a provincial nomination route? See our comparison of C11 vs PNP Entrepreneur.

A credible business case matters as much as the funds. See our guide to the business plan for Canadian immigration.