Stream 1
- You must settle in Québec to create and operate a business for which you have already received a service offer from a business accelerator or incubator or a university entrepreneurship center You can carry out your project alone or with others, up to three of whom can be foreign nationals who have submitted selection applications as entrepreneurs for the same project.
- You must present your project in the form of a business plan.
Stream 2
- You must settle in Québec to create or acquire and operate a business
- You must make a startup deposit and a security deposit at a financial institution with an establishment in Québec with whom you have signed a deposit agreement:
- You must use the startup deposit to set up your business. The required amount is lower (CAD $200,000) if you set up your business outside the Montréal metropolitan area (CMM). A startup deposit of CAD $300,000 is required if the business is located in the CMM.
- The security deposit of CAD $200,000 serves as insurance that your business will actually be created. It will be refunded when you demonstrate that your business plan has been carried out.
- You must also have a minimum net worth of CAD $900,000, alone or with your spouse or de facto spouse, and you must demonstrate that this money has been legally acquired.
- You must present your project in the form of a business plan.
- If you choose to create a business, you must own and control at least 25% of its equity capital. If you choose to acquire a business, you must own and control at least 51% of its equity capital.
- Your business must not be involved in any of the following activities:
- Payday loans, cheque cashing, or pawnbroking
- Real estate development or real estate or insurance brokerage
- Production, distribution, or sale of pornographic or sexually explicit products or services related to the sex industry such as nude or erotic dancing, escort services or erotic massages
- Your business
- Must have been in operation during the five years prior to your date of application
Please note that you cannot acquire a business purchased in the five years prior to your selection application by an immigrant selected as an entrepreneur under the program.
- Must have been in operation during the five years prior to your date of application
Your application will also be assessed on the basis of other factors and criteria including:
- Your age
- Your level of education
- Your knowledge of French and English
- Your financial self-sufficiency
- Your visits to Québec
- Your family in Québec