Why invest in OINP Entrepreneur Stream?

• High scope for business growth
• Opportunity to get Canada PR
• Stable and competitive business environment
• Biggest savings on your business costs
• Highest returns on investment

OINP Entrepreneur Stream

The Entrepreneur Stream is one of the immigration streams under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), established under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015. Ontario believes that ‘welcoming foreign entrepreneurs expands the talent pool in different perspectives that enriches the culture of innovation.’

Overseas applicants willing to start a new business or buy an existing business in Ontario, Canada, can opt for this stream. Entrepreneurs can get the opportunity to apply for Canada PR after establishing their business in Ontario.

About Ontario

Ontario is Canada’s wealthiest province, situated in east-central Canada, with the largest share of the country’s natural resources and a diversified industrial economy. Ontario makes up 38% of the Canadian GDP. Ontario has a wide range of industries, which include:

•  Cultivating crops
• Mining industries
• Automobiles manufacturing industries
• Software sector
• Leading-edge technology industries

Ontario lies in the core part of the North American Free Trade, which includes more than 460 million people and generates a combined gross domestic product of more than $18 trillion. It is the hub for almost 50% of employees in high-tech, financial services, and other knowledge-intensive industries. After California and Texas in the USA, Ontario has the highest number of manufacturing employees of any jurisdiction in Canada and the United States.

Eligibility criteria

• A minimum 2 years of Business Experience in the last 60 months
• Should be able to invest a net worth of CAD$ 800,000 (Within the Greater Toronto Area) or CAD$ 400,000 outside Greater Toronto Area
• Personal Investment of CAD$ 600,000 (Within the Greater Toronto Area) or CAD$ 200,000 Outside the Greater Toronto Area
• English Language Proficiency
• A business concept that is economically beneficial to Ontario

Requirements to apply for OINP Entrepreneur Stream

Business experience: You should have had a minimum of 24 months of full-time specialized experience in the past 60 months. You should have been an owner of a business or a senior manager (business management). When you were a business owner, you should have actively participated in the business and had a stake of a minimum of one-third in the business. During your tenure as a senior manager, you should have had responsibilities for taking major decisions in the business and handling business operations on a day-to-day basis, wholly or partially.

Net worth investment: The applicant must have a certain personal net worth, which should have been legally obtained and can be verified. Your planned business has to be situated in the following:

•  In the Greater Toronto Area (Toronto and Durham, York, and Peel and Halton regions), you should have a personal net worth of at least CAD 800,000
• Outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you should have a personal net worth of at least CAD 400,000
• Have private investment funds and a certain amount of equity

Your investments in your business must be a minimum of personal net worth. If your planned business is to be situated:

•  within the Greater Toronto Area, you need to invest at least CAD 600,000 personally
• outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you need to invest at least CAD 600,000 personally

You must hold a minimum of one-third of the equity in the business.

If your planned business is in the information and communications technology (ICT)/digital communications sector, then wherever be your location, you need to invest personally at least CAD 200,000 and hold at least a minimum of one-third of the equity in the business.

Do take note that passive investments, which include mutual and pooled fund securities, while acceptable to satisfy the least personal net worth condition, are not eligible to be included in an applicant’s least business investment amount.

Active involvement: You must proactively participate in managing the business.

Capital investment purpose: The main reason you invest capital in the business should be to profit from it monetarily. It should not be to initiate dividends, interest, or capital gains.

Job creation: Suppose the location of the business is within the Greater Toronto Area. In that case, you must create a minimum of two permanent full-time jobs for citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

Suppose the business location is outside the Greater Toronto Area or the ICT or digital communications sector, no matter where it is located. In that case, you need to create a minimum of one permanent full-time job for a citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.

These jobs must:

• Compensated at the median salary level for the roles
• Occupied uninterruptedly for a minimum of 10 months before the final report’s submission
• Must be occupied at the time of the final report and nomination

Steps to apply for OINP Entrepreneur Stream

 This is a two-stage process:

Stage 1 

Step 1: Sign up for an expression of interest (EOI).

Step 2: If you get an invite, submit a virtual application.

Step 3: Both you and your business partner would have to (if applicable) attend a compulsory interview.

Step 4: If your stage 1 application is approved, you should sign a performance agreement.

Stage 2

Step 1: We release a support letter for a temporary work permit to allow you to apply to IRCC for a provisional work permit.

Step 2: Set up your business – you get a time of 20 months from your date of arrival in Ontario to put in place your business proposal and submit a final report.

Step 3: If your business fulfills all requirements, we will ask you to furnish documents to ensure you qualify for permanent residence nomination.
*Note: Before you register an expression of interest, you need to:

•  Meet the eligibility criteria
• Go through the list of types of businesses that are not eligible
• Familiarize yourself with the process of expression of interest
• Go through the registration instructions

Foreign entrepreneurs get fast-track immigration program to Ontario

• OINP offers a fast-track opportunity for foreign entrepreneurs to move to Canada.
• It has the opportunity of moving to Canada, open for 200 entrepreneurs.
• The Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC) will manage the Entrepreneur Success Initiative.
• Automated car washes, holding companies, Laundromats, etc., are ineligible businesses under this program.

How can Y-Axis help you?

Permanent residency for entrepreneurs and HNIs differs little from other PR programs. At Y-Axis, we have the expertise to help you navigate the intricacies of these programs and help you choose them correctly. We help you with: 

• Immigration documents checklist
• Complete assistance for application processing
• Forms, documentation & application filing
• CELPIP and IELTS coaching
• Updates & regular follow-ups
• Relocation and post-landing support in Canada

With our vast experience in immigration, Y-Axis can help you create an application package with the highest chance of success. Talk to a Y-Axis counselor today.