top of page

Provincial Entrepreneur Program

ENTREPRENEUR STREAM AT A GLANCE (OINP)

The Entrepreneur Stream is an immigration stream under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). This stream is for entrepreneurs from outside Canada interested in starting a new business or buying an existing business in Ontario. It gives an entrepreneur (and up to one foreign national business partner) the opportunity to be nominated for permanent residence once their business has been established in Ontario. If you are nominated, the next step will be to apply to the federal government through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). They make the final decision on who becomes a permanent resident.

The Entrepreneur Stream application is a two-stage process. An overview of the process follows.

Image by Campaign Creators
STAGE 1

  • Register an expression of interest.

  • If invited, submit an online application.

  • You and your business partner (if applicable) attend a mandatory interview.

  • If your stage 1 application is successful, you must sign a performance agreement.
     

STAGE 2

  • A temporary work permit support letter is issued and apply for a temporary work permit.

  • Establish your business - you have 20 months from the date you arrive in Ontario to implement your business plan and submit a final report.

  • Provide documentation to proof that you are eligible for nomination for permanent residence.
     

MANDATORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AT STAGE 1

To qualify for nomination as a permanent resident under the Entrepreneur Stream, you must demonstrate that you will have a viable business that is likely to provide material economic benefit to the economy of Ontario as a whole or to the local Ontario economy where the business will be located. You and one foreign national business partner (if applicable) must both meet the eligibility requirements. If you are invited to submit an application, you must provide supporting documentation to demonstrate you meet eligibility requirements.

Your application must be submitted within 90 days of receiving an invitation.

​

WHAT PERMANENT RESIDENTS CANNOT DO

You are not allowed to:

  • vote or run for political office,

  • hold some jobs that need a high-level security clearance.

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

You must have at least 24 months of full-time business experience in the last 60 months. Your experience must be as a business owner or as a senior manager (business management). As a business owner, you must have had an active role in the business and owned at least one-third of the business. As a senior manager, you must have had senior decision-making responsibilities in the business and managed the day-to-day operations of the business in whole or in part.

NET WORTH

You (the applicant) must have a minimum personal net worth. All of your personal net worth must be lawfully obtained and verifiable, not just the minimum. If your proposed business is to be located:

  • within the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto and Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) you must have a minimum personal net worth of $800,000 Canadian

  • outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you must have a minimum personal net worth of $400,000 Canadian

Your personal net worth does not include your spouse’s personal net worth.x

​

PERSONAL INVESTMENT FUNDS AND MINIMUM EQUITY

You must make minimum investments in your business from your personal net worth. If your proposed business is to be located:

  • within the Greater Toronto Area, you must make a minimum personal investment of $600,000 Canadian

  • outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you must make a minimum personal investment of $200,000 Canadian

You must control at least one-third of the equity in the business.

If your proposed business is in the information and communications technology/digital communications sector then regardless of location, you must make a minimum personal investment of $200,000 Canadian and control at least of one-third of the equity in the business.

Passive investments, including mutual and/or pooled fund securities, while permissible for the purpose of satisfying the minimum personal net worth criterion, are ineligible for inclusion in an applicant’s minimum business investment amount.

​

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT

You must be actively involved, on an ongoing basis, in the management of the business.

Image by KOBU Agency

JOB CREATION

If the business is to be located inside the Greater Toronto Area you must create at least two permanent full-time jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

If the business is to be located outside the Greater Toronto Area or in the information and communications technology or digital communications sector, regardless of location you must create at least one permanent full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

These jobs must:

  • be paid at the median wage level for the position

  • be filled continuously for at least 10 months prior to submitting the final report

  • continue to exist at the time of final report and nomination
     

INELIGIBLE TYPES OF BUSINESS

Before you start the process of applying you need to ensure that your proposed business is not one of the ineligible types listed below:

  • automated car wash business

  • holding companies

  • laundromats

  • pawnbrokers

  • pay day loan and related businesses

  • scrap metal recycling

  • tire recycling

  • a business involved in producing, distributing or selling pornography or sexually explicit products or services, or providing sexually oriented services

  • businesses which have been previously owned or operated by a current or former OINP Entrepreneur Stream nominee or a nominee under the former investor component of the Opportunities Ontario program

If your proposed business will be located in the Greater Toronto Area, the following types are also ineligible:

  • existing franchises in Ontario (new foreign franchises expanding into Ontario are permitted)

  • gas stations

  • bed and breakfasts
     

MANDATORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AT STAGE 2

LANGUAGE

You must be able to listen, read, write and speak English or French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) Level 4.

For English tests, the OINP accepts either:

  • International English Language Testing (IELTS) (General Training test only)

  • Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) (General test only)

For French tests, the OINP accepts either:

  • Test d’évaluation de français pour le Canada (TEF)

  • Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada (TCF Canada)

bottom of page