Canada · Business & founder
High Impact Entrepreneur Pilot
Announced, not open. IRCC has said that the January 2026 pause of the Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons programmes is meant to support a transition to a new, more targeted pilot programme for immigrant entrepreneurs, with further details expected in 2026. As of July 2026, no eligibility criteria, investment thresholds, intake date or designated organisations have been published. The signals so far point toward founders with committed capital and demonstrated traction.
The federal business immigration target under the 2026–2028 Levels Plan is roughly 500 principal applicants a year, down about 50%. Whatever this pilot turns out to be, it is being sized to admit a few hundred founders nationally. It is not being built to reopen a market.
The facts
- Total landed cost
- Unknown. No criteria have been published.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- Physical presence
- Unspecified
- Family
- Unspecified
- Permanent residency
- Unspecified
- Citizenship
- 3 years of physical presence out of 5, if it leads to PR.
- Language test
- CLB 4 English or French for ages 18–54.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- None published.
- There are no published criteria, no intake date, and no designated organisations. Any consultant who quotes requirements is guessing.
- The levels-plan target of ~500 federal business principal applicants per year sets a hard cap on how many can realistically get through.
- Consultants are actively marketing pre-registration for a programme that does not exist.