Canada · WG Signature

Canada routes for exceptional talent.

Each guide sets out eligibility, the legal framework with official sources, the evidence to build, the steps, FAQs and a mobility capital analysis.

Programme library

Your options at a glance

Canada · WG Signature

Start-up Visa: founder permanent residence with designated-organisation support (intake paused)

The Start-up business class allowed a founding team with a letter of support from a designated Canadian venture capital fund, angel group or business incubator to apply directly for permanent residence. Ministerial Instructions effective 1 January 2026 paused new intake; only applicants who already held a 2025 commitment certificate could file, and then only until 30 June 2026. The government has signalled a successor entrepreneur pathway, but no replacement programme was published on canada.ca at the date of review.

Permanent-residence programme; intake paused by Ministerial Instructions effective 1 January 2026Requirements, process & FAQs

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C11 work permit: entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners with significant benefit

C11 is an International Mobility Program exemption for a foreign national who owns and will operate a business in Canada for a temporary period. It is not a residence programme. The applicant must show that the work will create or maintain a significant benefit for Canadians or permanent residents, that the stay is genuinely temporary, and that the person controls the business. IRCC's instructions warn that the authority must not be used for convenience or to avoid the labour-market test.

LMIA-exempt employer-specific work permit under IRPR paragraph 205(a)Requirements, process & FAQs

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Provincial Nominee Programs: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and the Quebec distinction

Eleven provinces and territories nominate candidates whose skills and intentions match local needs; IRCC then decides the permanent-residence application. A nomination aligned with Express Entry adds 600 points to a candidate's score. Each province runs its own streams and allocation, most of them employer-driven, and the rules change often. Quebec and Nunavut do not take part; Quebec selects its own economic immigrants under a separate agreement.

Established permanent-residence class delivered jointly by provinces and IRCCRequirements, process & FAQs

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