Self-Employed Programs

The self-employed category is directed towards applicants who have relevant self-employment experience in addition to the intention and ability to create their own employment opportunities and make a significant contribution to the cultural, artistic or sports life of Canada, or to create their own business recruitment by purchasing and managing a farm in Canada.

A successful applicant is someone who has had at least two years of experience in the five years prior to the application date in freelance work in cultural activities or in athletics, world-class participation in cultural activities or athletics, or experience in managing a farm.

To qualify, the applicant must demonstrate sufficient financial net worth, which, although not specified in the regulations and somewhat less than an entrepreneur’s financial net worth, should enable the applicant to work for his/her own account in Canada and make a significant contribution to economic activities set in Canada and meet the preliminary settlement requirements of the applicant and accompanying dependents.

As of March 10, 2018, the federal government is no longer accepting new applications within the farm management stream.

In the province of Quebec, self-employed applicants are primarily distinguished from skilled worker applicants in the sense that they immigrate to Canada to set up their own jobs by pursuing a profession or commercial activities.

They must have two years of applicable experience, possess a personal net worth of CAD 100,000, and have adequate settlement funding. Their immigration to Quebec should also come with creating employment opportunities for the applicant by practicing a specific profession in the National Occupational Classification.