The Federal Business Entrepreneur Program allows applicants with business experience and a legally obtained minimum net worth of CAN$300,000 to immigrate to Canada provided that they commit to managing and owning at least one-third of a business of a defined size for at least one year within three years of landing in Canada.

In order to qualify as an entrepreneur, you must first meet the regulatory definition of an entrepreneur and then obtain a minimum of 35 points in a selection grid designed to determine whether you will be able to become economically established in Canada.

You must have managed a qualifying business and have had control of a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of your application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the day a determination is made in respect of your application.

A qualifying business means a business for which there is documented evidence of two of the following. In each of any two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the date a determination is made in respect of the application.

1. the percentage of equity multiplied by the number of full-time job equivalents is equal to or greater than two full-time job equivalents per year;
2. the percentage of equity multiplied by the total annual sales is equal to or greater than CAN$500,000;
3. the percentage of equity multiplied by the net income in the year is equal to or greater than CAN$50,000; and
4. the percentage of equity multiplied by the net assets as the end of the year is equal to or greater than CAN$125,000.

Your business must not be operated primarily for the purpose of deriving investment income such as interest, dividends or capital gains.