Provincial Entrepreneur Immigration Programs

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) operates four entrepreneur streams. Alberta’s total 2026 allocation across all streams rose to 6,603 nominations after IRCC provided an additional 200 in August 2026.

Applicants should note an important August 2026 change. On 12 August 2026 the AAIP rewrote the eligibility pages for its Rural Entrepreneur, Graduate Entrepreneur and Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur streams to explain in detail how it assesses “economic establishment”. The criteria themselves did not change, but the province now spells out that it will look at your Alberta business presence and day-to-day management, business viability, expected economic contribution, whether proposed hiring and salaries are realistic for the scale of the business, your own capacity to run it, and your regulatory readiness. Existing EOIs do not need to be resubmitted, and the AAIP will give applicants under assessment a chance to respond before refusing on these grounds.

Rural Entrepreneur Stream

The flagship stream, for entrepreneurs starting or buying a business in a community of fewer than 100,000 people outside the Calgary and Edmonton census metropolitan areas.

• Net worth of at least CAD $300,000; investment of at least CAD $100,000 from the applicant’s own or a spouse’s equity.
• Three years’ experience as an active business owner-manager, or four years as a senior manager, within the past ten years.
• At least 51 per cent ownership of a new business, or 100 per cent for a business succession.
• At least one full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, excluding relatives, lasting at least six months. Job creation is not required for a succession.
• CLB or NCLC 4 in all four abilities, with results less than two years old at EOI submission, and at least a Canadian-equivalent high school credential supported by an Educational Credential Assessment.
• A community support letter from a participating rural community, obtained after an exploratory visit that may be conducted in person or by video conference.

Selection is by points, out of a maximum of 175. Higher investment, more jobs, a smaller community, stronger language scores and prior Alberta experience all improve ranking, so meeting the minimums is rarely enough. Entrepreneurs who already own and operate a rural Alberta business for at least a year can also use this stream. See our page on the Alberta Rural Entrepreneur Stream.

Graduate Entrepreneur, Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur and Farm Streams

• Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, for international graduates of Alberta post-secondary institutions who want to establish or operate an Alberta business. The AAIP was accepting EOIs under this stream in 2026.
• Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, for graduates of qualifying institutions outside Canada launching an innovative start-up in Alberta. This stream was previously called the Foreign Graduate Start-Up Visa Stream, and older material still uses the old name.
• Farm Stream, for applicants with farm management experience and the financial resources to buy or develop a farming business in Alberta. Formerly the Self-Employed Farmer Stream.

British Columbia runs the most active entrepreneur program in the country and continued to hold draws through 2026, including invitation rounds in April and July. Volumes are small: 14 invitations in the April 2026 Base draw at a cut-off of 115 points, and 10 in late July. The province received 5,254 nomination spaces for 2026 against a request of roughly 9,000, which explains the restraint.

Entrepreneur Immigration, Base Stream

• Personal net worth of at least CAD $600,000, verified by a designated third party.
• Investment of at least CAD $200,000 in a new or acquired business anywhere in B.C.
• At least 51 per cent ownership, and creation of at least one full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4 in each of the four abilities in English or French, by the time of nomination.
• Business and management experience, and a registration fee of $300 plus an application fee of $3,500.

Entrepreneur Immigration, Regional Stream

The Regional stream is for businesses outside the Metro Vancouver Regional District, in participating communities of fewer than 75,000 people located at least 30 kilometres from a larger centre. Thresholds are roughly half those of the Base stream: net worth of at least CAD $300,000 and investment of at least CAD $100,000, with the same 51 per cent ownership and one-job requirements and the same CLB 4 floor.

The Regional stream cannot be entered cold. You must contact a participating community, complete an exploratory visit and obtain a community referral before registering. British Columbia has expanded the list of participating communities repeatedly, so check the current roster rather than an older article. Our page on British Columbia business immigration covers the province in more detail.

Entrepreneur Immigration, Strategic Projects

Strategic Projects is not an individual route. It allows a foreign-controlled company establishing an operation in B.C. to bring in up to five key managerial, professional or technical staff who intend to become permanent residents. The company must make an equity investment of at least CAD $500,000 and create at least three new jobs for Canadians or permanent residents for each key staff member proposed.

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program Business Investor Stream has two pathways: an Entrepreneur Pathway for applicants starting, buying or buying into a Manitoba business, and a Farm Investor Pathway for those establishing a farm operation in rural Manitoba. Both use the temporary-to-permanent model, with a work permit first and nomination only after the applicant meets a business performance agreement. The older requirement to deposit $100,000 with the provincial government was abolished years ago and should be ignored wherever it still appears.

• Net worth of at least CAD $500,000.
• Investment of at least CAD $250,000 in the Manitoba Capital Region, or CAD $150,000 outside it.
• Three years of full-time experience in the past five as an active business owner with at least one-third ownership, or in a senior management role.
• CLB 5 in English or French, and a Canadian-equivalent high school credential.
• A mandatory business research visit to Manitoba, generally within a year before applying.

Applicants should verify the intake mechanism before starting. Reporting through 2026 indicates Manitoba was not running regular Business Investor Stream EOI draws and was instead assessing submissions case by case through an interim paper-based process. Confirm the current position with the province directly.

The New Brunswick Business Immigration Stream is for experienced business people ready to establish, operate and actively manage a business in the province. Selection is by EOI and invitation, and invitations depend on labour market conditions, existing inventory and the province’s annual allocation.

• Aged 19 to 59, with a Canadian-equivalent high school diploma or better.
• Verifiable personal net worth of at least CAD $500,000, or CAD $300,000 for farming applicants.
• Investment of at least CAD $150,000 before taxes, with at least one-third ownership of the business.
• Two years of business ownership or senior management experience in the past five years, and a viable business plan.
• CLB 4 in all four abilities.

Nomination follows six months of operating the business and meeting the business performance agreement. Applicants have 90 days from an invitation to submit a complete application through the province’s portal.

Newfoundland and Labrador runs an International Entrepreneur Category for applicants establishing or buying a business in the province, and an International Graduate Entrepreneur Category for graduates of Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic who have operated a business in the province. Both use a work-permit-first model with nomination following a period of active operation.

Published thresholds for the province’s entrepreneur categories vary widely across secondary sources, and no figures are quoted here for that reason. Obtain the current net worth and investment minimums from the provincial immigration office directly before relying on them.

The Northwest Territories Nominee Program Business Stream requires:

• Investment of at least CAD $300,000 in Yellowknife, or CAD $150,000 outside Yellowknife.
• Net worth of at least CAD $500,000 for a Yellowknife business, or CAD $250,000 outside Yellowknife.
• At least one-third ownership, unless personal equity investment is CAD $1 million or more.

The NWT publishes a draw schedule for its nominee program, so applicants should time their submissions to the published rounds. Both territories have very small allocations, and both weigh regional economic benefit heavily.

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program runs an Entrepreneur Stream and an International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, both temporary-to-permanent.

Entrepreneur Stream

• Net worth of at least CAD $600,000, or CAD $400,000 for a business outside the Halifax Regional Municipality.
• Investment of at least CAD $150,000, or CAD $100,000 outside HRM.
• Three years of business ownership with at least one-third ownership, or more than five years in a senior business management role.
• CLB 5 in English or French.
• Actively manage the business for at least a year on a work permit before nomination.

International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream

For graduates of a Nova Scotia university or community college who studied at least two years in the province and have then operated their own business there for a year. The ownership requirement is at least one-third; it was reduced from 100 per cent, and older summaries still get this wrong.

Fees. Nova Scotia introduced NSNP application fees on 1 September 2026, including a CAD $2,000 fee for the entrepreneur stream. Submitting an EOI remains free; the fee applies once a candidate is selected from the pool, payable within 90 days of an Invitation to Apply for a new business or 180 days where an existing business is being purchased. Candidates holding a selection letter issued before 1 September 2026 are not affected.

Ontario is the significant closure of 2026, and any older guide that describes an OINP Entrepreneur Stream is now wrong. Effective 30 May 2026, Ontario revoked all nine existing Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program streams, including the Entrepreneur Stream, the Employer Job Offer categories, the Masters and PhD graduate streams and the Express Entry human capital streams.

The province is rebuilding the program in phases. The first phase consolidated the three former employer job offer streams into a single stream with higher-skilled and lower-skilled pathways. Ontario has said a redesigned entrepreneur stream will form part of a later phase, alongside healthcare and exceptional talent pathways, but as of September 2026 no eligibility criteria, investment thresholds or intake dates had been published. Prospective entrepreneurs targeting Ontario have no provincial route open to them in the meantime.

Prince Edward Island runs a Business Impact Category with a single Work Permit Stream. Applicants come to the Island on a work permit, operate the business for at least a year, and are nominated only afterwards. Selection is through a points-based EOI system.

Two features are distinctive. Net worth must be verified by one of the province’s Designated Net Worth Verifiers, and where business assets are counted toward net worth the applicant or spouse must own at least 70 per cent of the business, with a maximum of CAD $180,000 of business value usable. Applicants selected for nomination must also submit a CAD $10,000 application fee with the application.

PEI has been conducting a review of its business and entrepreneur streams, and intake has not been continuous. Check the province’s current status and the latest application guide before preparing anything.

Quebec selects its own economic immigrants and sits outside the Provincial Nominee Program, so its business programs work differently. Quebec runs an Entrepreneur Program with multiple streams, including a business takeover stream, with net worth requirements broadly in the CAD $300,000 to $600,000 range and no net worth test in its innovative business stream. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is the only substantial passive-investment route left in Canada, requiring CAD $2 million in lawfully obtained net worth, a five-year government-guaranteed investment of CAD $1 million repaid without interest, a separate non-refundable contribution, spoken French at level 7 on Quebec’s scale, and management experience.

Quebec’s own immigration plan provides for only a very small number of business selections, and French language ability is now a hard gate rather than a preference. Applicants without functional French should treat Quebec as closed in practice.

The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) runs an Entrepreneur category, an International Graduate Entrepreneur category and a separate Farm Owner and Operator category. Entrepreneur selection is by EOI draw, with EOIs remaining in the pool for 12 months.

• Net business and personal assets of at least CAD $500,000.
• Investment of at least CAD $300,000 in the Regina or Saskatoon census metropolitan areas, or CAD $200,000 in any other Saskatchewan community.
• At least one-third ownership of the business, unless total investment is CAD $1 million or more.
• Three years of relevant business management or entrepreneurial experience within the past ten years, and demonstrated commitment to day-to-day management.
• Creation of two employment opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Saskatchewan has been managing a reduced 2026 allocation tightly across all categories, and business applicants should expect scheduled intake windows rather than continuous processing.

• Investment of at least CAD $300,000 in an eligible Yukon business.
• Net worth of at least CAD $500,000.
• At least one-third ownership of the business.
• A minimum score on the Yukon Business Nominee Program assessment grid, with the business falling in one of Yukon’s strategic sectors and outside its ineligible industries.