BUSINESS IMMIGRATION
Overview
You can immigrate to Canada with you family, if you are a foreign national with experience as an entrepreneur and sufficient financial savings. You must be prepared to open up a new business in Canada or purchase an existing one.
Canada is considered as one of the better places to start your own business or invest in a business because of its low taxes, strong economy, low business costs and high quality of life. Business owners and investors can obtain permanent residency in Canada for them and their families. There are three main ways to do so, that you can learn about by reading below.
- Owner Operator Stream: This process involves buying or setting up a new business in Canada and using that as a basis to submit to the government an application (called a Labour Market Business Assessment). If granted, you would receive an Open Work Permit to work in Canada, for you and your family. After you work in Canada for a year or more, you can submit an application for Permanent Residency through the Express Entry Process (under the Canadian Experience Class).
- Provincial Entrepreneur Streams: This process also involves buying or setting up a new business. However, the first step is to submit an Expression of Interest to a Canadian province. This is followed by submitting a business plan, completing an exploratory visit to Canada, and completing other steps. If your application is accepted, generally, you would receive an Open Work Permit to work in Canada, for you and your family. 1-2 years after establishing your business in Canada, you can submit an application for Permanent Residency through the Express Entry Process.
- Investment Stream: This stream only exists in the province of Quebec. Through it, an immigrant investor and his immediate family members can obtain permanent residency by investing CAD $1.2 million for five years with a subsidiary of the government of Quebec. Applicants must intend to reside in the province of Quebec.
Business Immigration Routes
You have a number of available options to immigrate as a business class migrant. The Quebec Immigrant Investor program allows you to immigrate to Canada by making a government-guaranteed investment for fiver years.
There are also a number of Entrepreneur programs hosted by the various Canadian provinces, which will require you to invest in and operate a business in Canada.
You may also wish to explore the Owner Operator LMIA option, that would allow you to buy a business and attain a Work Permit faster than the provincial programs.
Aside from those, the Entrepreneur Start-Up Visa Program allows migrants in the technology field to submit an application through a company incubator.
Since there are so many options available to you, we encourage you to fill out a free assessment to learn more about which options suit you.
Through the above programs you are able to either buy an existing business or establish a new one. The government would consider many factors in approving your application, including: Your business management and ownership experience; Your financial capability, And other factors. You will need to assign yourself as a manager, and operate the business for at least a year in order to qualify for Permanent Residency. Take advantage of our knowledge of these programs by starting a Free Assessment.
Each province encourages the immigration of entrepreneurs and business managers through their Provincial Nominee Programs, including the most populated provinces like British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario. However, note that some provinces (like the Western provinces of Saskatechwan and Manitoba) prefer to accept applicants that have a family, relative, business, or other connection to the province. Also, most provinces require a certain proficiency in your ability to speak English or French. Therefore, you would need to be strategic about which province to apply to. We welcome you to start your Free Assessment so that we can determine the best option for you.
Canada welcomes self-employed individuals in a variety of fields, for instance, in the farming field, or arts, culture, or sports. The applicant would need to have a certain level of success in their home country or the world, and would need to demonstrate an aptitude to succeed in Canada. Take a Free Assessment to ascertain if your self-employed experience would make you eligible for one of the Self-Employed Immigration Programs.
