The investment and net worth requirements for candidates under the Ontario Entrepreneur Stream (OES) have been slashed.
Candidates for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program stream also require less business experience following the changes, which are effective July 8, 2019.
Canada’s largest province is hoping to make the OES more attractive to job creators and be more competitive with other provincial entrepreneur immigration streams.
Changes To the Ontario Entrepreneur Stream
| Requirement Description | Before July 8, 2019 | After July 8 2019 |
| Net worth for proposed business inside GTA | $1.5 million | $800,000 |
| Net worth for proposed business outside GTA | $800,000 | $400,000 |
| Net worth for proposed business in involved in Information Communications Technology or Digital Communications | $800,000 | $400,000 |
| Minimum investment for proposed business inside GTA | $1 million | $600,000 |
| Minimum investment for proposed business outside GTA | $500,000 | $200,000 |
| Minimum investment for proposed business in involved in Information Communications Technology or Digital Communications | $500,000 | $200,000 |
| Business experience as owner or senior manager | 36 months within last 60 months | 24 months within last 60 months |
The changes were proposed as part of the Ontario provincial budget in April, and were subject to a public consultation period that ended on May 30, 2019.
The changes have been confirmed following an announcement by the OINP.
Candidates who submitted an Expression of Interest for the Ontario Entrepreneur Stream before July 8 and are yet to receive an invitation to apply are no longer eligible, an OINP statement said.
They will need to register a new Expression of Interest to be eligible for future rounds of invitations.
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Those who received invites before July 8, 2019 will have their applications considered under the old requirements. Candidates have 90 days to submit a full application after receiving an invitation to apply.
“We encourage interested applicants to review the new Expression of Interest registration process,” the OINP statement said.
Meanwhile, Ontario has also terminated the unpopular Corporate Stream, which was aimed at established international corporations that wanted to expand into Ontario or buy an existing Ontario business.