Business
Visa - Entrepreneurs
Immigrating to Canada as an Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are defined by the Immigration Act as people who
have the ability to establish, purchase, or make a substantial
investment in a business in Canada that will create or maintain
employment for at least one person in Canada other than the
applicant and his or her dependents. The entrepreneur must
actively take part in the management of the business venture.
An applicant
must prove that he has a net worth of at least CAN$300,000 and has
several recent years of management and ownership experience in
operating a business. The applicant will also have to submit
financial records of the previous 5 years of his business such as
number of full time employees, total annual sales, annual net
income and net assets of the company at year-end. His business
must then pass the test of being a "qualifying business".
Specifically, the Entrepreneur Program allows applicants with
business experience and a legally obtained minimum net worth of
CAN$300,000 to immigrate to Canada provided that they commit to
managing and owning at least one-third of a business of a defined
size for at least one year within three years of landing in
Canada.
In order to qualify as an entrepreneur, you must first meet the
regulatory definition of an entrepreneur and then obtain a minimum
of 35 points in a selection grid designed to determine whether you
will be able to become economically established in Canada.
You must have managed a qualifying business and have had control
of a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least
two years in the period beginning five years before the date of
your application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the
day a determination is made in respect of your application.
A qualifying business means a business for which there is
documented evidence of two of the following. In each of any two
years in the period beginning five years before the date of
application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the
date a determination is made in respect of the application.
-
the
percentage of equity multiplied by the number of full-time job
equivalents is equal to or greater than two full-time job
equivalents per year;
-
the
percentage of equity multiplied by the total annual sales is equal
to or greater than CAN$500,000;
-
the
percentage of equity multiplied by the net income in the year is
equal to or greater than CAN$50,000; and
-
the
percentage of equity multiplied by the net assets as the end of
the year is equal to or greater than CAN$125,000.
Your business
must not be operated primarily for the purpose of deriving
investment income such as interest, dividends or capital gains.
Conditions
An entrepreneur who becomes a permanent resident must meet the
following conditions:
-
the
entrepreneur must control a percentage of the equity of a
qualifying Canadian business equal to or greater than 33 1/3 per
cent;
-
the
entrepreneur must provide active and on-going management of the
qualifying Canadian business; and
-
the
entrepreneur must create at least one incremental full-time job
equivalent in the qualifying Canadian business for Canadian
citizens or permanent residents, other than the entrepreneur and
their family members.
The
entrepreneur must meet the conditions for a period of at least one
year within the period of three years after the day on which the
entrepreneur becomes a permanent resident.
How big is the Entrepreneur Program?
Over the past five years, approximately 1,000 entrepreneurs
(principal applicants) a year have landed in Canada.
Where do most entrepreneurs come from?
Entrepreneurs come from all over the world. Currently, the
majority of entrepreneurs are from China, Taiwan, Korea and Hong
Kong, but there are also large numbers of them applying from the
Middle East and Africa.
For further
details of the Entrepreneur programs and the fees charged for the
preparation and completion of an application package
please contact
info@canada.ca
.
