What these routes ask of you
Business immigration is often presented as the route you take when you have money. In practice capital is the easiest requirement to satisfy, and rarely the one that decides the outcome.
What decides it is whether the business is real and whether you are genuinely running it. Provincial entrepreneur routes typically require you to own a meaningful share, participate in day to day management, live in the province, and operate for a full year before a nomination is even requested. Most also verify your net worth independently, through a professional chosen from the province's own list rather than your accountant, and treat any gap between what you declared and what the verifier finds as a serious matter.
The federal routes work differently again. The Start-up Visa depends on securing support from a designated organisation, which is its own competitive process before immigration is even in question.
The routes
Provincial entrepreneur
Start or buy a business in a specific province, run it yourself, and be nominated once it is operating.
Explore →Start-up Visa
A federal route for scalable businesses with support from a designated venture capital fund, angel group or incubator.
In preparationSelf-employed
A federal route for people with relevant experience in cultural or athletic activities.
In preparation