To get in as a self-employed person, the applicant must have at least two years of relevant experience and must display an intention to become a self-employed person after moving in. Additionally, applicants must score a minimum of 35 points on the selection grid so you are proved as a potential economic contributor to Canada’s economy. The selection grid takes the following factors: Education (maximum 25 points), Experience (35 points), Age (10 points max), Language ability in English or French (a maximum of 24 points) and Adaptability (6 points max). The maximum points that can be scored on the grid is 100 out of which a successful candidate will score at least 35%.

Note: As of March 10, 2018, the Canadian government has stopped accepting new applications under the farm management stream under the Self-Employed category.

For entrepreneurs, Canada has in place a separate visa category called the Start-up visa. The motive behind this visa is clear – the Canadian government is trying to promote the start-up culture and thereby the overall business economy. To be eligible under this category, the following are the requirements you must fulfil –
• You must have a Letter of Support either from a designated VC fund, Angel Investor Group or Business Incubator.
• You must hold at least 10% voting rights in the business and together with the designated investor, you must jointly hold at least 51% voting rights in the business.
• You must score at least the Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in writing, reading, listening and speaking French or English or both. This means that if you take the CELPIP, you must score at least a 3L on all the 4 categories. On the other hand, if you are taking the IELTS, you’ll have to score a minimum of 5.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 5.0 on listening, reading, writing and speaking respectively.
• You must have a minimum amount of money to support yourself and your family. The minimum amount set for each person depends on the number of family member he has. For instance, for the only person in the family, the amount is set at $12,475 Canadian dollars. For two members, it is $15,531 and so on.

Immigrant Investor – Until recently, Canadian government was accepting applications from people who could make a huge amount of capital investment (at least $2 million) for at least 15 years in Canada. However, presently, the Immigration Department of Canada isn’t accepting new applications under this category.