Canada Suspends Start-Up Visa, Hints at New Replacement in 2026
December 20, 2025
Canada suspends Start-Up Visa, officially closing at year’s end, suggests new pilot program to take its place in 2026.
Canada Startup Visa
Program Type:
Active Investor Visa
Processing Time:
12-16 months
Citizenship Timeline:
5 years
Permanent Residency Timeline:
2 years
Physical Presence Required:
None
Citizenship Visa-Free Access:
185 countries
Minimum Contribution:
None but financing needed
Contribution Options:
Business Investment
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Program Overview
Canada Startup Visa
Canada’s Startup Visa offers entrepreneurs who can obtain the financial backing of venture capital funds or angel investors, or who are accepted by business incubators, the right to start and operate a new business in Canada.
The program offers a path to permanent residency in Canada in as few as two years and citizenship in as few as five.
Though there are no specific physical presence requirements, applicants are expected to take an active and ongoing managerial role in their startups and, therefore, in practice spend most of their time in Canada.
Canada Startup Visa
How to Qualify
Applicants to Canada’s Federal Startup Visa program do not need to make an investment themselves but must, instead, secure the financial backing of external, accredited investors for the startup they plan to launch.
Applicants must demonstrate a modicum of personal funds:
- Prove a minimum bank balance of C$13,215
- Prove an additional minimum bank balance of C$3,500 per dependent
Applicants must, additionally, obtain a certificate of commitment from an angel investor group, a venture capital fund, or a business incubator:
- C$200,000 commitment from designated Canadian venture capital funds
- C$75,000 commitment from investors part of designated Canadian angel investor groups
- Confirmation that the startup is part of a designated Canadian business incubator program.
Applicable fees:
- C$85 application fee for a single applicant;
- C$170 for a family application;
- C$285 for a group of three or more main applicants and their dependents.
The main applicant can sponsor a spouse, children under 21, and financially dependent parents and grandparents for residency in Canada.
Canada Startup Visa
Salient Benefits
- Path to citizenship
- No investment or donation required
- Enhanced education opportunities
- Enhanced business access to large economies
- Short processing time
- English as official language
- Safety and security
- Option to include three or more generations of family members in the application
Canada Startup Visa
Citizenship Timeline and Requirements
After spending a total of 730 days (two years) in Canada, the Startup Visa applicant is eligible for permanent residence in Canada.
After spending at least 1,095 days over a five-year period in Canada, applicants are eligible for Canadian citizenship, provided they have first become permanent residents, have filed taxes each year, and has mastered either English or French.
Naturalization applicants must, furthermore, take an Oath of Allegiance.
Canada permits dual citizenship.
Browse 195 countries’ paths to citizenship in the hyper-detailed IMI Citizenship Catalog.
Canada Startup Visa
Program Authority and Legal Basis
Applications for this program may be directed to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Legislation upon which this program is based Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2001, Chapter 27 Sub 11 (1).
Canada Startup Visa
IMI Pros Who Can Help You
Canada Startup Visa
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Canada Startup Visa
Program Statistics
See more statistics on this program and others in the IMI Data Center.