Canada · Business & founder
Québec Entrepreneur Programme
Open across three streams (innovative business supported by a business incubator/accelerator; start or acquire a business; business takeover). Oral French at Québec Level 7 has been mandatory across all streams since January 2024, with no waiver.
With the federal Start-up Visa closed since January 2026, Québec's entrepreneur streams and the provincial nominee entrepreneur streams are now the only live business routes to Canadian PR — and Québec's costs the applicant a real B2 French exam.
Qualifying routes
Supported by a designated Québec incubator, accelerator or university entrepreneurship centre; no fixed deposit
CAD 200,000 security deposit plus a start-up deposit of CAD 300,000 (Montréal metropolitan area) or CAD 200,000 (elsewhere in Québec) — both refundable on delivering the business plan
The facts
- Minimum investment
- 200k CAD
- Total landed cost
- CAD 400–500k in refundable deposits for stream 2, plus counsel, plus the actual cost of the business
- Timeline
- 24–48 months — Québec selection then federal PR
- Physical presence
- Must actively manage the business in Québec
- Family
- spouse or common-law partnerdependent children
- Permanent residency
- Direct PR via Québec selection
- Citizenship
- 3 years of physical presence out of 5
- Language test
- CLB 4 English or French for ages 18–54
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- net worth of CAD 900,000two years of management experience in the last fiveoral French at Québec Level 7stream-specific deposits or incubator support
- Oral French at Level 7 is mandatory across all streams with no waiver — the binding constraint for most international applicants.
- Deposits are refundable only on delivering the business plan; failure to execute means forfeiture.
- Net worth requirement of CAD 900,000.
- Québec selection is not federal admission; security and medical admissibility are separate.