September 4, 2026
Canada’s federal entrepreneur routes are closed to new applicants. The Start-Up Visa stopped accepting applications on 30 June 2026, and the Self-Employed Persons Program has been closed to new intake since April 2024. For a business owner applying from Pakistan, provincial streams are now the main route to permanent residence.
There is no single PNP entrepreneur program. Each province and territory runs its own, with different rules on net worth, investment, business experience, language and where the business must operate. Twelve streams exist in 2026 and two are already closed.
Key Takeaways: PNP Entrepreneur Programs in 2026
- Program type: Provincial streams that nominate business owners for permanent residence after they establish or purchase a business in the province.
- Assessment basis: Net worth, investment capacity, business management experience, the proposed business plan, and job creation. There is no CRS score.
- Language: CLB 4 in British Columbia and Alberta Rural, CLB 5 in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, against CLB 7 for the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
- Financial thresholds: Net worth from CAD 250,000 and investment from CAD 100,000, depending on the province and stream.
- Process: You arrive on a work permit, operate the business through a performance period of 18 to 20 months in most provinces, then receive a nomination and apply for permanent residence.
Closures: Saskatchewan ended its entrepreneur pathways permanently in March 2025 and Ontario has set no reopening date. Federally, the Start-Up Visa was paused on 30 June 2026.
How PNP Entrepreneur Programs Work
Approval under a PNP entrepreneur stream does not grant permanent residence. It produces a work permit, and permanent residence comes at the end of a process that runs several years.
Stage One: Selection and Approval
Most provinces use an expression of interest system in which candidates are scored and ranked. Some, including the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alberta’s Farm Stream, accept direct applications instead. Manitoba paused its EOI draws in April 2026 and is reviewing submissions individually.
If you are invited to apply, an authorised accounting firm verifies your net worth and how the funds were accumulated. Provinces use firms such as KPMG and MNP for this. You then sign a performance agreement setting out your investment, your management role and the jobs you will create.
Stage Two: Work Permit, Business, Nomination
British Columbia issues a Letter of Support, giving you 90 days to file your work permit application with IRCC and 12 months from the permit to arrive in the province.
Once there, British Columbia allows up to 20 months to meet your commitments, with a final report due between 18 and 20 months after arrival. The nomination follows only if the province is satisfied you have met the agreement, and the permanent residence application to IRCC follows the nomination.
Which Provinces Have Entrepreneur Streams in 2026?
Twelve provincial and territorial entrepreneur streams were accepting applications in 2026, and two have closed. Several provinces run more than one stream. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
Program | Min. investment | Min. net worth | Min. CLB | Status |
Alberta Rural Entrepreneur | 100,000 | 300,000 | CLB 4 | Active |
BC PNP Regional Stream | 100,000 | 300,000 | CLB 4 | Active |
Nova Scotia Entrepreneur | 100,000 outside Halifax, 150,000 elsewhere | 600,000 | CLB 5 | Active |
NWT Business Stream | 150,000 outside Yellowknife, 300,000 inside | 250,000 outside, 500,000 inside | CLB 4 | Active |
Manitoba BIS Entrepreneur | 150,000 rural, 250,000 Winnipeg | 500,000 | CLB 5 | Active, EOI draws paused |
New Brunswick BIS | From 150,000 | 500,000 | Scored, not fixed | Active |
BC PNP Base Stream | 200,000 | 600,000 | CLB 4 | Active |
NL International Entrepreneur | 200,000 | 600,000 | CLB 5 | Active |
Yukon Business Nominee | 300,000, plus 300,000 in liquid assets | 500,000 | Not published | Active |
Manitoba BIS Farm Investor | 300,000 farm assets | 500,000 | Not published | Active |
PEI Business Impact | Varies by location | 600,000 | Not published | Active |
Alberta Farm Stream | 500,000 farm equity | 500,000 | No minimum | Active |
Saskatchewan Entrepreneur | N/A | N/A | N/A | Closed 27 March |
Ontario OINP Entrepreneur | N/A | N/A | N/A | Closed, no reopening date |
Saskatchewan Entrepreneur Pathways
Saskatchewan permanently closed its Entrepreneur, International Graduate Entrepreneur and Farm Owner/Operator pathways on 27 March 2025. The province accepts no new applications or expressions of interest and issues no further invitations. Existing applications continue to be processed. For more details
Ontario Program Status
Ontario’s entrepreneur stream is not accepting applications, and no reopening date has been announced. The province rebuilt the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program in 2026, so any eligibility figures you find for the former Entrepreneur Stream describe a program that no longer operates in that form.
Business owners intending to settle in Ontario have no provincial entrepreneur route at present. The federal C11 work permit is the alternative most often used in that position.
Language Requirements Are Lower Than Express Entry
The Federal Skilled Worker Program requires CLB 7 in all four abilities, which is the point at which many experienced business owners stop pursuing Canada. Entrepreneur streams set a considerably lower bar.
British Columbia requires CLB 4 for both its Base and Regional streams. Alberta’s Rural Entrepreneur Stream also requires CLB 4, while its Farm Stream sets no minimum. Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador each require CLB 5.
New Brunswick assesses applicants on a 100-point grid requiring 65 points, and Manitoba awards additional points for scores above CLB 5. Meeting the minimum makes you eligible; it does not make you competitive in a ranked pool.
PNP Entrepreneur Eligibility Compared
The BC PNP Base and Regional streams and Newfoundland and Labrador’s International Entrepreneur category have different financial, business experience, language and business-location requirements. The table below compares the principal eligibility criteria for these three pathways.
Requirement | BC Base | BC Regional | Newfoundland |
Personal net worth | CAD 600,000 | CAD 300,000 | CAD 600,000 |
Minimum investment | CAD 200,000 | CAD 100,000 | CAD 200,000 |
Qualifying business experience | 3 years in last 10 | 3 years in last 5 | 2 years of ownership and management in the last 5, or 5 years of senior management in the last 10 |
Language | CLB 4 | CLB 4 | CLB 5 |
Jobs to create | 1 full-time | 1 full-time | 1 full-time |
Exploratory visit | Recommended | Required | Required for applicants applying from outside Newfoundland and Labrador |
Community referral | Not required | Required | Not required |
The figures above are taken from provincial government sources
The Newfoundland and Labrador category also permits a CAD 1 million equity investment instead of the CAD 200,000 minimum. The CAD 200,000 route requires at least 33.3% ownership of the business.
BC Regional has the lowest thresholds of the three, at CAD 300,000 net worth and CAD 100,000 investment. The business must operate outside the Metro Vancouver Regional District, and applicants must complete an exploratory visit and obtain a community referral before registering. British Columbia also permits a substitution: applicants who do not meet the business experience requirement may submit an eligible post-secondary credential instead.
Newfoundland and Labrador applies further conditions. Applicants must be aged 21 to 59 and hold a Canadian high school diploma or an equivalent foreign credential verified through an ECA. Experience must be either two years of ownership at 25 percent or more within the last five years, or five years of senior management within the last ten.
Ineligible Businesses Under the BC PNP Entrepreneur
The BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration program excludes certain types of businesses from consideration. Applicants should assess the proposed business against these restrictions before developing a business plan or making an investment.
Examples of ineligible businesses include:
- Bed and breakfasts, hobby farms and home-based businesses
- Payday loan, cheque-cashing, money-changing and cash-machine businesses
- Pawnbrokers
- Coin-operated laundries
- Automated car wash operations
- Scrap metal recycling businesses
- Tanning salons
- DVD rental stores
- Real estate development and brokerage businesses
- Insurance brokerage and business brokerage
- Businesses that may constitute passive investments
- Businesses selling used goods, subject to the program’s exception for businesses providing value-added services such as repairs, refurbishing or recycling
- Goods-trading businesses, including import/export businesses, unless value added is demonstrated
Other provinces publish their own exclusion lists. Saskatchewan barred wholesale trade entirely before closing, while Manitoba is reported to apply one of the broader definitions of an eligible business. A proposal refused in one province may still qualify in another.
How to Choose the Right PNP Entrepreneur Program
- Personal net worth. Compare your documented net worth against each minimum. This is the hardest requirement to alter, so it should eliminate first. A net worth of CAD 300,000 removes roughly half the table.
- Investment capacity. Net worth may include property and business assets, but the investment must be capital you can move to Canada.
- Business experience. Check the required years, the ownership percentage, and the window in which the experience must fall. BC Base counts the last ten years; BC Regional counts only the last five.
- The business itself. Each stream restricts eligible industries, sets a job creation minimum, and may require a particular location. BC Regional requires the business to operate outside Metro Vancouver with a community referral.
- Language. Most streams require CLB 4 or 5. If that is the only requirement you miss, the answer is usually a few months of preparation rather than a different province.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do PNP entrepreneur programs give permanent residence directly?
No. You arrive on a work permit, operate the business, and receive a nomination only after meeting your performance agreement. Permanent residence follows the nomination.
Is the Saskatchewan entrepreneur program still open?
No. Saskatchewan permanently closed its Entrepreneur, International Graduate Entrepreneur and Farm Owner/Operator pathways on 27 March 2025. Existing applications continue to be processed.
What language score is required for PNP entrepreneur programs?
CLB 4 for both British Columbia streams and Alberta Rural, and CLB 5 for Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Some streams score language rather than applying a fixed minimum.
Do I need a job offer or Canadian experience?
No. Entrepreneur streams assess your capital, business experience and proposed business, so neither a job offer nor prior Canadian work experience is required.
Do all PNP entrepreneur programs require me to live in the province?
Yes. Every stream requires you to live in the nominating province. Passive investment and remote management do not qualify, and Newfoundland excludes businesses run from outside the province entirely.
Which Stream is Right for Your Profile?
Your net worth, business experience, language level, proposed business and preferred location each point toward different streams. Two provinces have already closed their entrepreneur pathways, so the shortlist is shorter than most guides suggest.
Book your strategy assessment and we will map your profile against every open stream, test your business concept against provincial rules, and tell you where your case is strongest.
