Canada Start-Up Visa (SUV)

The Canada Start-Up Visa is a federal permanent-residence route for immigrant entrepreneurs who want to build an innovative business in Canada outside Quebec. It’s not a visitor status and it’s not a shortcut for testing the waters. If you’re approved, it can lead to permanent residence for you and eligible family members.

The catch is that the program is basically paused for new applicants. Canada’s immigration department says the only people still able to file under this route are applicants who already have a valid 2025 commitment certificate from a designated organization and they need to submit by June 30, 2026. If you don’t already have that certificate, there isn’t a live intake path right now.

The SUV is aimed at founders who can build a business that’s innovative, can create jobs in Canada and can compete globally. You can apply on your own or with a small ownership group, but the business has to meet strict control rules. Each applicant needs at least 10% of the voting rights and together with the designated organization, the group has to hold more than 50%.

To qualify, you also need three other things:

• Letter of support: From an IRCC-designated venture capital fund, angel investor group or business incubator.
• Language test: At least CLB 5 in speaking, reading, listening and writing in English or French.
• Settlement funds: Enough money to support yourself and your dependants after arrival and it can’t be borrowed.

This is also where people mix up the SUV with a visitor visa. A visitor visa or eTA lets you come to Canada temporarily for tourism or short business visits like meetings and conferences. It doesn't let you actively run a Canadian business as your main activity and it doesn’t lead to permanent residence on its own.

IRCC also changed the program’s intake rules in 2024, capping the number of start-ups each designated organization can back each year and giving priority to some applications supported by Canadian capital or Tech Network incubators. That makes the program even tighter than it already was. For anyone looking at it now, the short version is simple, if you don’t already hold the right 2025 commitment certificate, the SUV is off the table for the moment.

Canada’s Start-Up Visa program isn’t open to fresh applicants right now. IRCC is still processing a narrow group of cases, but only if you already have a valid 2025 commitment certificate and you apply by June 30, 2026.

If you fit that window, the rules are straightforward on paper and picky in practice. There’s no nationality filter, so citizens of any country can qualify. You do, however, still have to pass Canada’s normal admissibility checks, which means no serious criminality, no security issues, no certain medical concerns and no misrepresentation.

What you need to qualify

IRCC says every Start-Up Visa applicant has to meet four basic tests:

• A qualifying business: You need to meet the ownership and control rules for the venture.
• Support from a designated organization: You need a letter of support from an IRCC-designated venture capital fund, angel investor group or business incubator.
• Language ability: You need Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in English or French in listening, reading, writing and speaking.
• Settlement funds: You need enough money to support yourself and your family before the business starts producing income.

The business test is stricter than a lot of people expect. At the time you get support from the designated organization, each applicant has to hold at least 10% of the voting rights and the applicants plus the designated organization together must control more than 50% of the voting rights. If the PR application is approved, you also have to incorporate the business in Canada, manage it actively from inside Canada and make sure an essential part of the operation happens here.

Money and paperwork

IRCC’s settlement-funds table changes every year. The most recent published figures tied to the Start-Up Visa show examples of $15,263 for one person, $19,001 for two, $23,360 for three, $28,362 for four, $32,168 for five, $36,280 for six and $40,392 for seven. The money has to be yours, available in CAD or easily convertible and supported by bank letters showing balances, account history and any debts.

There’s one annoying catch, you can’t borrow those funds from someone else. IRCC wants proof you can cover living costs for your family even if they’re not coming with you.

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The Start-Up Visa is paperwork-heavy and Canada wants it that way. You don’t just prove who you are, you also prove the business is real, the support letter is legit and you can support yourself without leaning on Canadian public money.

What you need to qualify

IRCC’s checklist for the Start-up Business Class, IMM 5760, is the document set that matters. If it asks for something, don’t guess your way around it, because the checklist is the thing officers use to decide whether your file is complete.

• Letter of Support: from a designated venture capital fund, angel investor group or business incubator.
• Commitment Certificate: sent directly to IRCC by the designated organization.
• Business ownership documents: proof that each applicant holds at least 10% of the voting rights and that applicants plus the designated organization control more than 50% combined.
• Language test results: an approved test showing at least CLB 5 in speaking, reading, listening and writing.
• Proof of funds: bank statements or other acceptable financial records showing you can settle in Canada.

Identity and family documents

IRCC also wants the usual civil-status paperwork and yes, it can get fussy if your file has a messy family history. Bring valid passports for everyone in the application, plus the documents that match your situation.

• Passports or travel documents: for you and any dependants.
• Birth certificates: for principal applicants, spouses or common-law partners and dependent children.
• Marriage, divorce or death certificates: where they apply.
• Common-law evidence: if you’re applying as common-law partners.
• Adoption or custody papers: for adopted or stepchildren, if relevant.

Money you can actually use

IRCC doesn’t publish a fixed SUV dollar table on the pages reviewed here, but it does say you must bring enough money to settle in Canada. The money can’t be borrowed and the government won’t top up your bank account if you arrive short.

Accepted proof usually includes bank statements, official bank letters on letterhead and documents showing funds or capital payable to you, like stocks or treasury bills. If you’re relying on bank letters, they should show your account numbers, when the account opened, current balance, average balance over the past 6 months and any debts linked to the account.

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The Start-Up Visa isn’t cheap and there’s no special SUV fee menu. IRCC charges it under the regular permanent-residence “Business” class, so you need to budget for government fees, biometrics and the private costs that pile up around the application.

The core government fees are straightforward for the principal applicant, but the rest depends on who’s included in your file. The official fee table is the one to trust, not old blog posts or forum screenshots.

• Principal applicant processing fee: $1,895
• Right of Permanent Residence Fee: $600
• Biometrics for one person: $85
• Biometrics for a family applying together: up to $170

That puts the basic government bill for one adult at $2,580 before you add anything else. If you’re applying with a spouse or children, the spouse and child processing fees are set in the live IRCC fee table and the government summary doesn’t spell out every line item on the public notice, so check the current table before paying.

Then come the costs IRCC doesn’t price for you.

• Medical exam: charged by an approved panel physician
• Police certificates: fees set by each country’s issuing authority
• Language test: charged by the test centre, such as IELTS, CELPIP or TEF
• Translations and notarization: private-market costs if your documents aren’t in English or French
• Lawyer or consultant fees: privately set and not regulated by IRCC

Those private costs vary a lot and there’s no official cap. Legal help alone can run into several thousand dollars, especially if you need business-plan drafting, pitch prep for a designated organization or full application management.

One more annoyance: the program itself is tightly limited. The Start-Up Visa is open only to applicants with a valid 2025 commitment certificate who apply by June 30, 2026. If you’re outside that window, the fee discussion doesn’t matter because you can’t file a new SUV application.

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The Canada Start-Up Visa is still technically open, but the door is barely cracked. IRCC is only taking new files if you already have a valid 2025 commitment certificate and you must submit by June 30, 2026. If you don’t have that certificate, the program is paused for new applicants.

Approved applicants don’t get a temporary visa. They get Canadian permanent residence, which is the whole point of this program and the official processing time shown by IRCC is now “more than 10 years.” That’s not a typo and it’s a pretty brutal wait for a business immigration stream.

How to apply

• Check eligibility: You need a qualifying business, a letter of support and commitment certificate from a designated organization, CLB 5 in English or French and enough settlement funds to support yourself in Canada.
• Log in to the PR Portal: IRCC requires online filing through the Permanent Residence Portal under “Start-Up Business Class.”
• Complete the forms: The portal includes the main application forms and you also need to upload the checklist and business-specific schedule listed in IRCC’s guide.
• Upload your documents: Expect to provide passports, language test results, the letter of support, civil status documents, police certificates, photos and proof of funds.
• Pay the fees: IRCC’s payment is made online with the application. The exact total depends on whether family members are included, so check the portal before you submit.

Settlement funds are one of the stricter parts of the file. IRCC uses the same family-size benchmark it publishes for other economic immigration programs and the money has to be available, transferable and not borrowed. For one applicant, that means at least $15,263 CAD. For a family of four, it’s $28,362 CAD.

Keep your financial proof clean. IRCC wants official bank or financial institution letters showing balances, average balances over the past 6 months and any debts and you need to keep access to those funds both when you apply and when your permanent resident visa is issued.

If you’re missing the 2025 commitment certificate, don’t waste time trying to force a 2026 SUV filing. This isn’t a flexible intake right now. It’s a narrow, time-limited exception and everyone else needs to look at other entrepreneur pathways.

The Start-Up Visa doesn’t have a normal renewal cycle because it’s a permanent residence program, not a temporary visa. If you’re approved, you become a permanent resident, so there’s no need to reapply every few years just to keep your status alive.

IRCC has also paused new intake for most applicants. Right now, only people with a valid 2025 commitment certificate who apply by June 30, 2026 can move forward under the current rules. If you already have a valid commitment certificate, IRCC says you have 6 months to submit your permanent residence application if the certificate was received before Jan. 1, 2026.

There isn’t a separate Start-Up Visa extension fee or a public renewal length for the program itself. That said, if you already hold a Start-Up Visa work permit, IRCC says you may be able to extend that temporary open work permit while your permanent residence file is still being processed. The public guidance doesn’t give a specific extension period or a dedicated fee for that work permit extension.

Current fees:

• Permanent residence application: CAD 2,495 total, which includes the processing fee and the right of permanent residence fee.
• Biometrics: CAD 85 for one person or CAD 170 for a family.

IRCC also increased permanent residence fees on April 30, 2026. The business class processing fee rose to CAD 1,895 and the right of permanent residence fee rose to CAD 600, which adds up to the same CAD 2,495 total.

Processing is the annoying part. IRCC’s Start-Up Visa page doesn’t show a live processing time and the department has said the program’s backlog has pushed waits beyond 4 years. That’s a long haul, so anyone applying should expect a slow file and plan around it.

Once you do get permanent residence, the path is the same as any other PR holder and citizenship comes later under the normal Canadian rules if you meet the residency and eligibility requirements. The Start-Up Visa page itself doesn’t create a separate citizenship timeline.

The Start-Up Visa is an immigration route, not a tax break. If you get permanent residence through the SUV, Canada taxes you under the same rules as any other resident, with no special federal income-tax regime for founders or their dependants.

For tax purposes, what matters is residency, not the visa stamp in your passport. The Canada Revenue Agency looks at your facts on the ground, especially whether you’ve set up significant residential ties, like a home, spouse or partner and dependants in Canada. Secondary ties, such as a driver’s licence, health coverage, personal property and bank accounts, can also push you toward tax residency.

• Factual residence: You’ve established significant residential ties in Canada.
• Deemed residence: You’re in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year and don’t have strong enough ties elsewhere.
• Non-residence: You don’t have significant residential ties and you stay fewer than 183 days in the year.

Once you become a Canadian tax resident, you’re taxed on worldwide income from that date forward. That includes foreign salary, self-employment income, interest, dividends, rental income and capital gains earned after residency starts. If you’re still a non-resident for tax purposes, Canada usually taxes only certain Canadian-source income.

There’s no SUV-specific treaty rule. If your home country has a tax treaty with Canada, it may help prevent double taxation through tie-breaker rules or foreign tax credits, but you still have to report properly in Canada. If your situation is borderline, CRA has forms to ask for a residency determination, NR74 when entering and NR73 when leaving.

New tax residents also have normal filing duties. That means a T1 return for the part of the year after you became resident, plus any foreign asset reporting that applies. One common trip-up is Form T1135, which can be required if a Canadian resident owns more than $100,000 CAD in specified foreign property at any point in the year.

Bottom line, the SUV doesn’t hand you a lighter tax bill. It just gets you in the door. Your tax position depends on where you actually live, how long you stay and whether you’ve created real ties to Canada.