Canada pauses Start‑Up Visa
Canada paused its existing Start‑Up Visa amid 10‑year backlogs and announced a new 'high‑impact' pilot intended to accelerate admissions for innovative entrepreneurs. The overhaul targets processing bottlenecks that left applicants waiting a decade. (immigration.ca)
IRCC’s December 19, 2025 notice stopped intake for the Start‑Up Visa optional open work permit and said new SUV permanent‑residence applications will not be accepted after 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2025, except for applicants holding a valid 2025 commitment from a designated organization. Applicants who received a valid commitment certificate from a designated organization in 2025 must submit their Start‑Up Visa permanent‑residence application by June 30, 2026 under current rules; the program is closed to other new applications as of January 1, 2026. Public reporting and IRCC inventories put the Start‑Up Visa inventory at roughly 43,000 pending files by late 2025, with independent counts showing the inventory rose by more than 23,000 between April 2024 and October 2025. IRCC imposed a cap limiting each designated organization (venture capital funds, angel groups, incubators) to supporting no more than 10 Start‑Up Visa applications per year, a measure that took effect April 30, 2024 to concentrate support and curb intake growth. Federal business‑stream admissions targets were scaled back in recent Levels Plan materials, with the federal business category set at 2,000 admissions in 2025 and projections for smaller annual allocations in subsequent years to help clear inventory and meet the 2026–2028 plan. The Self‑Employed Persons Program was placed on pause starting April 30, 2024, and IRCC confirmed on December 19, 2025 that the pause on accepting new Self‑Employed applications will continue while the department clears the existing inventory and designs new entrepreneur measures.
