Canada · Business & founder
High Impact Entrepreneur Pilot
Proposed
Last verified July 2026
ANNOUNCED, NOT OPEN. IRCC stated that the January 2026 pause of the Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons programmes supports 'a transition to a new, more targeted pilot program 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. Signalling points to 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 — not to reopen a market.
The facts
- Total landed cost
- Unknown — no criteria published
- 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
What can go wrong
- No published criteria, no intake date, no designated organisations. Any consultant quoting requirements is guessing.
- The levels-plan target of ~500 federal business principal applicants per year caps the realistic scale.
- Consultants are actively marketing 'pre-registration' for a programme that does not exist.