Provincial Entrepreneur Program Lawyer · Toronto

Who this page is for

This page is for experienced business owners and senior managers who want permanent residence by starting or buying a business in a Canadian province and running it themselves. Provincial entrepreneur streams are not passive investment programs. You must live in the province, manage the business day to day, and prove that your money was earned legally. Our work in this area focuses on two streams: the Manitoba Business Investor Stream (Entrepreneur Pathway) and the Nova Scotia Entrepreneur stream.

How provincial entrepreneur streams work

Most streams follow the same temporary-to-permanent model:

• You submit an expression of interest (EOI) with your business concept.

• The province invites you, or advises you, to apply.

• You file a full application with a business plan and a net worth report from an approved third-party verifier.

• The province may interview you, then asks you to sign a Business Performance Agreement (BPA).

• With the province’s support letter, you apply to IRCC for a work permit.

• You arrive, open or buy the business, and run it under the BPA.

• If you meet the BPA, the province nominates you and you apply to IRCC for permanent residence. IRCC makes the final decision.

Manitoba: Business Investor Stream, Entrepreneur Pathway

Status on September 25, 2026: Manitoba runs a paper-based interim process. You send your EOI by email with a business concept form, a self-assessment form and the program’s code of conduct. The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) states that EOI draws for this stream are not currently being conducted. Instead, it issues either a Letter of Advice to Apply or a feedback letter, and it aims to review each EOI within four weeks. See the official application page.

The published minimums are three years of full-time experience in the past five as an active owner (at least one-third ownership) or as a senior manager, a net worth of $500,000 verified by an approved third party, CLB/NCLC 5 and Canadian high school equivalency. The minimum investment is $250,000 in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region and $150,000 elsewhere in Manitoba. The business must create or maintain at least one job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who is not an owner or a close relative (eligibility page). After you arrive, you report to the MPNP within 30 days, file progress reports, and must have run the business for at least six months before your final report. Manitoba does not accept applications from spouses of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, or from people with an active application in another provincial or federal program.

Nova Scotia: Entrepreneur stream

Status on September 25, 2026: open, by invitation only. The province’s invitation history shows Entrepreneur rounds in April, May, June and July 2026. Since September 1, 2026, Nova Scotia charges an application fee once you are invited, and an EOI stays in the pool for one year.

For experienced owners and managers, the published minimums are: age 21 or older; a net worth of $600,000 if the business is in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) or $400,000 outside it; an investment of your own money of at least $150,000 in HRM or $100,000 outside; at least one-third ownership; at least three years as a business owner or more than five years as a senior manager in the last 10 years; CLB 5; and high school equivalency (Entrepreneur Stream Application Guide).

Several rules catch people. A new business must hire at least one permanent, full-time employee who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and not related to you. A business you buy must have had the same owner for the previous five years, and you must visit it and meet the owner. Money you spend before signing the BPA does not count as investment. If you live in Canada, you need a valid, unexpired status document on the day you submit your EOI; maintained status is not accepted. After you arrive, you must run the business for at least one full year before you can ask to be nominated. Our 2025 Nova Scotia guide explains the scoring; the official guide sets the current points.

Other provinces

Other provinces and territories run entrepreneur streams too, and their status changes often. In the past two years, at least one has closed for good and another is being redesigned. We check the official page for any province you are considering on the day we advise you, and we tell you if a stream is not a realistic option.

What provinces look for

• Net worth that was earned legally and can be traced: verifiers follow your money from the day you earned it to your bank account. One bank statement is not enough, as we explain in our post on net worth verification.

• A business plan you can defend: Nova Scotia closes a file if the applicant does not know every detail of the plan. The plan must come from your own research and your own numbers, and we go through it with you until you can explain every part of it. See our business plan guide.

• Real operations and real jobs: Nova Scotia excludes passive investments, property rental and, in most cases, home-based businesses. Other provinces publish their own lists.

• Consistency: the EOI, the plan and the net worth report must tell the same story. Nova Scotia closes a file when the verified net worth differs from the EOI.

Why files fail, and how we build against them

• Net worth that verification cannot confirm: we reconcile the numbers before the EOI goes in.

• Projections that do not hold up: we test assumptions against local data and your own experience.

• Spending or buying at the wrong time: we sequence any purchase with the program rules.

• BPA commitments that cannot be met: we set targets you can prove on time.

• Undisclosed history: we disclose your history and explain it. In Nova Scotia, misrepresentation bars you from its programs for five years.

Provincial decisions are often final; Nova Scotia’s guide states there is no appeal. If IRCC refuses the work permit or the permanent residence application, the options are a reconsideration request, a new application after we review the officer’s notes, or judicial review at the Federal Court.

How we work

You work with the lawyer, Ahmet Faruk Ocak, from the first call to the decision. There are no case managers. Faruk is also licensed in Türkiye and works in English and Turkish.

• Online consultation: we test your experience, net worth and business idea against the stream, and if it does not fit, we say so plainly.

• Flat fee: the fee is agreed in writing before you hire us, and you can pay it in full or in two instalments. It is held in trust and earned at set milestones. Government fees are separate, and HST applies to Canadian residents.

• Secure intake and a shared folder: you complete a secure online intake, and we open a shared document folder and build a checklist for your file.

• Email for everything: advice, instructions and updates come by email, so every step is on record.

What happens next

Book an online consultation at cal.com/blacksyimmigration. Bring a summary of your business experience, a rough breakdown of your net worth by asset type, and the province and kind of business you have in mind.

Frequently asked questions

Which provincial entrepreneur streams are open right now?

It changes often, so we check on the day we advise you. On September 25, 2026, Manitoba was accepting Entrepreneur Pathway EOIs by email but was not running EOI draws; it answers with a Letter of Advice to Apply or a feedback letter. Nova Scotia’s Entrepreneur stream was open by invitation, with rounds in each month from April to July 2026.

Can my spouse’s assets count toward the net worth requirement?

In Nova Scotia, yes: the guide says the required amounts can include your spouse’s assets. In both streams, the money must be legally obtained and traceable, and an approved third-party verifier confirms it. We review ownership documents and the source of each asset before you declare a figure in an EOI, because a gap between the EOI and the verified report can end the file.

Can I buy an existing business instead of starting one?

Yes, in both streams, but the rules differ. In Nova Scotia the business must have had the same owner for the five years before you buy it, you must visit it and meet the owner, and you must agree on a fair market value. Money spent before you sign the Business Performance Agreement does not count as investment. We plan the purchase around those rules.

Do I have to live in the province?

Yes. These streams are for people who will live in the province and manage the business day to day. Nova Scotia only considers a nomination request if you and your family live there, and Manitoba requires you to report to the program after you arrive. Declaring an intention to settle that you do not have is a form of misrepresentation, so we test that intention with you first.

How long does the whole process take?

We do not promise timelines. Each stage depends on the province, IRCC and your business. What the rules fix is the minimum operating period. Nova Scotia requires at least one full year of operation before a nomination request. Manitoba requires progress reports and at least six months of operation before the final report. IRCC then processes the permanent residence application.

Does Ontario still have an entrepreneur program?

No. As of October 2026, Ontario’s program page says the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream has launched and all other Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program streams are closed, which includes the former Entrepreneur Stream. Ontario says more changes are coming but has published no new business stream. The Workforce Priority stream needs a qualifying job offer from an eligible employer, so it does not fit an owner running their own business. Owners usually look at a federal work permit first, then at a permanent residence route the business can support.

Is the Saskatchewan entrepreneur program still open?

No. On March 27, 2025, Saskatchewan permanently closed its Entrepreneur, International Graduate Entrepreneur and Farm Owner/Operator categories. Its program page says it accepts no new applications or expressions of interest and issues no further invitations, while applications already in the system are processed to completion. As of October 2026, Saskatchewan has not published a replacement business stream. Some websites still describe the old category as open, so check saskatchewan.ca before you pay for a business plan or a net worth report.

Is the BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration program still open?

Yes. As of October 2026, British Columbia runs two entrepreneur streams and invites candidates from its registration pool roughly every four weeks. On September 22, 2026, it invited 10 Base stream candidates and fewer than five Regional stream candidates, both at a minimum score of 119. The Base stream requires a personal net worth of $600,000 and an investment of $200,000. The Regional stream requires $300,000 and $100,000, a business outside Metro Vancouver and a referral from the host community.

The Start-up Visa is closed. What can founders do now?

No new Start-up Visa application can be filed as of October 2026. IRCC stopped accepting new applications on December 31, 2025, except from people with a valid 2025 commitment certificate, who had to apply by June 30, 2026. IRCC said details of a new pilot for entrepreneurs would come in 2026, but its program page still shows the Start-up Visa as paused and no pilot has opened. Founders now usually look at a work permit for business owners (C11) or for significant benefit (C10), then a provincial entrepreneur stream.

How much are the government fees for a provincial entrepreneur stream?

There are two layers. As of October 2026, Manitoba charges $2,500 when you submit an Entrepreneur Pathway application after a Letter of Advice to Apply, and Nova Scotia charges $2,000 once your Entrepreneur expression of interest is selected, with no fee to submit one. Both fees are non-refundable. After nomination, IRCC charges $1,590 each for you and your spouse, including the right of permanent residence fee, and $270 per dependent child. The net worth verification, work permit fees and travel to the province are extra.