Entrepreneur hopefuls secured a reprieve in Canada’s sweeping immigration cuts, though the pathway forward now splits sharply between fast-track candidates and those facing decade-long waits.
Ottawa’s 2026-2028 immigration blueprint preserves the Start-Up Visa (SUV) program with a target of 500 annual admissions, though actual numbers could range from 250 to 1,000, even as the government slashes overall newcomer volumes from 673,650 temporary residents in 2025 to 370,000 by 2028. Permanent resident admissions will stabilize at 380,000 yearly.
“We are satisfied that SUV got included in the next three years,” said Slava Apel, CEO at Startup Visa Services.
He says that under this new framework, processing timelines for startup founders will fracture into distinct tiers. 10% of applicants could reach permanent residence within two to three years through priority processing, while the remaining 90% face waiting times exceeding a decade.
An alternative route offers faster Canadian entry. Entrepreneurs requiring immediate operations can secure three-year renewable work permits within months, bypassing the permanent residence queue entirely, but having to maintain their physical residence and employment requirements to remain in Canada.
Program Exceeded Targets Despite New Constraints
The SUV welcomed 7,635 individuals in 2024, including family members. Approvals jumped from 60% in 2023 to 75% last year as processing times compressed from 6.9 to 6.1 months for overseas clients.
Those gains arrived before May 2024 ministerial instructions imposed intake caps and prioritization measures. The Self-employed Persons Program, which shares the Federal Business Class allocation, now faces a complete intake pause.
Canada admitted 483,640 permanent residents in 2024, with economic migrants comprising 58.2% of arrivals. Economic immigration will reach 64% of admissions by 2027, targeting 244,700 individuals annually.
Provincial Nominee Programs dominate the economic landscape with 91,500 to 92,500 yearly admissions. Federal High Skilled streams add 109,000 to 111,000, dwarfing the business immigration allocation.
Broader Cuts Reshape Settlement Capacity
Temporary residents surged from 3.3% of Canada’s population in 2018 to 7.5% in 2024, straining housing supply and social services. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab is committed to reducing temporary residents to below 5% of the population by late 2027.
Two exceptional measures operate outside the 380,000 permanent resident ceiling. IRCC will transition approximately 115,000 Protected Persons to permanent status over 2026-2027, while up to 33,000 temporary workers with Canadian roots receive accelerated pathways.
International migration drove 97.3% of Canada’s population growth in 2024. The country added 744,324 people to reach 41.5 million, with natural increase contributing only 19,738 more births than deaths.
Family reunification holds at 81,000 annual admissions. Refugee and protected person allocations remain steady at 49,300, while Francophone immigration targets climb to 10.5% of admissions outside Quebec by 2028.
Citizenship Law Eliminates Generation Cutoff
Parliament passed legislation expanding citizenship rights for Canadians abroad. Bill C-3, which cleared the House of Commons on November 5, eliminates the first-generation cutoff that prevented Canadian citizens born outside Canada from passing citizenship to children also born abroad.
The reform requires Canadian parents born abroad to demonstrate 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada before their child’s birth.
Retroactive provisions restore citizenship to thousands of “Lost Canadians” previously excluded by outdated rules, including descendants of women denied equal citizenship rights before 1977.
Adoptive parents face identical requirements. Foreign-born children adopted by Canadians who spent three cumulative years in the country qualify automatically, closing gaps that previously excluded adopted children through technical loopholes.
Apel views the measure as “unlimited and undeserving chain immigration” that grants instant citizenship to approximately 100,000 people.
He notes that subsequent generations born abroad to parents who barely met the 1,095-day threshold can inherit citizenship “with no language and bad health,” though he acknowledges the changes reflect “the Canadian spirit of being nice.”
The reform eases citizenship acquisition for frequent travelers, multinational executives, nomadic entrepreneurs, diplomats, and multi-jurisdiction business owners who maintain Canadian ties.
The measure awaits Senate review before royal assent triggers implementation.
