Canadian Business Immigration Services for Entrepreneurs and Investors.

If you are an entrepreneur or investor looking at Canada right now, you are being told two contradictory things.

Marketing websites still promote the Start-Up Visa as Canada’s flagship entrepreneur program. Meanwhile, IRCC’s own page for that program says “Status: Paused.” The last group of applicants — those holding a 2025 commitment certificate — had until 30 June 2026 to file. That date has passed.

We would rather lose a consultation than sell you a program that no longer accepts applications.

So this page does something different. Before we describe our services, we tell you where the open doors are. Then, if one of them fits your situation, you will know exactly which of our practice areas applies.

Where Canada’s Doors Actually Stand in Mid-2026

Canada is not closed to entrepreneurs. It is closed to unstructured entrepreneurs. The programs that survived the 2026 tightening all reward the same thing: a real, funded, operating business with documented benefit to Canada.

What Changed in 2026, and Why It Matters to Your File

Three shifts explain almost every refusal we see this year.

Ownership and control are tested harder

The C11 ownership threshold moved from 50% to 51%. Officers want clean separation between personal and business funds, documented control, and duties that match what you said you would do.

Permits got shorter

C11 permits are now issued for 18 months rather than two years. Your business plan has to show meaningful progress inside that window, because your extension depends on it.

One PR shortcut closed

Time spent working on a C11 as a self-employed person no longer counts toward Canadian Experience Class eligibility under Express Entry. If your plan assumed C11 → CEC → PR, that plan needs rebuilding. Provincial nomination is now the primary route for C11 holders — a nomination carries 600 CRS points and effectively guarantees an invitation. Express Entry remains available to owners who accumulate skilled Canadian experience in a genuine senior management role.

We wrote the full analysis when the rules changed: Changes to Canada’s C11 Work Permit — what matters and how to win.

None of this makes Canada unworkable. It makes preparation the whole game.

Our Services for Entrepreneurs and Investors

1. Enter Canada and Operate Your Business

Work permits are the practical starting point for most entrepreneurs in 2026. They get you into the country, operating, and building the Canadian record that permanent residence later depends on.

• C11 Entrepreneur Work Permit — the LMIA-exempt significant benefit route under paragraph 205(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. No job offer, no LMIA, no minimum net worth rule — but you must prove 51%+ ownership, active operation, funding in place, and real economic, social or cultural benefit to Canada.
• C60 Work Permit — for entrepreneurs on a provincial nomination track who need to enter Canada and demonstrate business viability before nomination.
• Intra-Company Transfer Program — move yourself or your executives into a Canadian branch, subsidiary or affiliate of your existing company.
• Entrepreneur Work Permit Programs — a comparison of every entrepreneur permit route.
• Provincial Business Candidate Work Permit
• Work Permits for Executives

Not sure whether C11 or ICT fits? We wrote the comparison: C11 vs ICT — which work permit is right for you.

2. Move From Work Permit to Permanent Residence

A work permit is temporary. The strategy is what turns it into status.

• Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) — province-by-province entrepreneur streams, with current openings and thresholds. Provincial routes carry more weight than ever: provinces hold a larger share of economic admissions under the 2026–2028 levels plan, even as entrepreneur streams themselves have tightened. Alberta · British Columbia · Manitoba · New Brunswick · Nova Scotia
• Express Entry for Senior Managers — a category-based selection route for NOC 00 executives with Canadian work experience.
• Canadian Citizenship for Business Owners — what the path from permit to passport actually requires.
• Residency by Investment — how investment-linked residency works in Canada, and where expectations set by other countries’ golden visa programs do not transfer.

3. Build, Buy, or Bring the Business

The immigration application is downstream of a commercial decision. We work on both.

• Establish a Foreign Company in Canada — incorporate and structure a Canadian entity that supports your immigration position rather than undermining it.
• Buying a Business in Canada — acquiring an operating business, and the immigration diligence most buyers skip.
• Buying a Franchise in Canada — where franchise models help an application, and where they hurt it.
• Bringing a Foreign Start-Up to Canada
• Starting a Business in Canada — five practical routes for founders.
• Immigration Business Plan Guide — the document that decides most entrepreneur files. Officers are reading these far more sceptically than they did two years ago.

4. Bring Your Team With You

Most entrepreneurs do not arrive alone. Getting key people in is part of the same plan.

• Staff Transfers to Canada
• Hiring Foreign Workers in Canada
• Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
• Global Talent Stream — for tech roles on an accelerated timeline.
• Business Travel to Canada — entering compliantly for meetings, diligence, or site visits before your permit is in place.

How We Work, and Who We Work With

We assess before we accept. Your first substantive conversation is a paid one-hour strategy meeting with a licensed Canadian immigration lawyer — not a sales call with an advisor. If we do not believe your file can succeed, we say so in that meeting. That is the most valuable hour we can give someone whose plan will not work.

We are selective, and that is the point. We do not take every enquiry. Our capacity goes to clients whose businesses are fundable, whose documents are real, and who will do the work.

You get the lawyer, not a queue. A boutique firm means the person who assessed your file is the person who builds it.

Credentials. Recognised by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Members of the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association, and the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association. 160+ applications filed in 2024 for clients across six continents.

We are a fit if you are

• A business owner relocating yourself and your company to Canada
• An investor acquiring an operating Canadian business or franchise
• A founder with funding and traction, not just an idea
• A multinational opening or staffing a Canadian entity
• A high-net-worth individual seeking residence through genuine business activity

We are likely not a fit if you are

• Looking for passive residency with no business involvement
• Hoping to buy a nomination
• Seeking the cheapest possible filing

Those files do not survive 2026-era scrutiny, and we will not take your money to find that out together.

Country Guides

Business immigration works differently depending on where you are filing from — treaty access, document standards, and officer expectations all vary.

Australia · China · European Union (CETA) · Hong Kong · India · Indonesia · Mexico · Nigeria · Russia · Singapore · South Africa · South Korea · UAE · United States · Vietnam

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Frequently Asked Questions

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