New Ontario Draw Issues 21 Invitations To Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Ontario province has issued 21 invitations to apply under the Entrepreneur Stream.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) conducted the draw on August 26. Immigration candidates who obtain their Expressions of Interest (EOIs) scores between November 22, 2019, and August 21, 2020, were featured for this draw.

The 21 Invitations were sent out to candidates who had Expressions of Interest scores between 144 and 200.

This is the fourth draw of its kind in 2020, bringing the total number of immigrant entrepreneurs invited up to ninety-one (91).

Eligibility criteria for the Entrepreneur stream depend on where in Ontario the business will be situated. Recent reforms have also reduced minimum net worth and investment requirements.

The minimum required net worth for the proposed business within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is now $800,000, down from $1.5 million, and the minimum investment is now $600,000 down from $1 million.

Immigrant entrepreneurs looking outside the GTA require $400,00 in net worth instead of $800,000. They now require a minimum investment of $200,000 instead of $500,000.

Candidates need twenty-four (24) months of business experience as an owner or senior manager within the past sixty (60) months. Previously, candidates needed thirty-six (36) months of experience within the same timeframe.

What are the minimum requirements to receive a nomination?

The entrepreneur program is designed to attract people who are looking to start a new business initiative or buy into an existing business in the Ontario province. Successful candidates get a temporary work permit support letter to start their business in Ontario.

The support letter is based on a performance agreement, and if the entrepreneur complies with the investment and job creation targets set out in the agreement, they have the chance to be selected for Canadian permanent residence.

Immigrant entrepreneurs must meet the following criteria in order to be nominated once they have started the business and fulfill the performance agreement. Successfully obtaining a nomination certificate allows candidates to make an application for Canadian immigration.

The following requirements have to be met when entrepreneurs apply for a nomination from Ontario after the business has been established:

• show an official language proficiency at a Canadian Language Benchmark four (4) level or equivalent;
• meet the residency requirement of the program, interested candidates must be physically residing in Ontario for seventy-five (75) percent (nine months out of the year) of the period in which they are starting the business in Ontario province;
• Entrepreneurs must be actively involved in the day-to-day running of business activities.

Nominees must also continue to meet the conditions stipulated on the Performance Agreement, including the information provided in the EOI and business plan, within twenty (20) months of arriving in Ontario.