New Brunswick Business Immigration Stream: Entrepreneur Route to PR

This stream is part of the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP). It is for entrepreneurs who want to start a new business or buy an existing one in New Brunswick and manage it day to day. Passive investment does not qualify.

It is a two-stage process. First, Immigration New Brunswick (INB) approves your business plan and supports a work permit. You move to the province and open the business. After six months of operating under your Business Performance Agreement, you can ask for a nomination. Only then do you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence.

The stream replaced New Brunswick's older Entrepreneurial stream. Rules you may see in older articles, such as different investment or job numbers, no longer apply.

As of September 2026, you must:

• Be 19 to 59 years old.
• Have at least Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) level 4 in all four skills in English or French.
• Have at least a Canadian high school diploma or its foreign equivalent.
• Have a personal net worth of at least $500,000, or $300,000 if you are investing in the agriculture sector.
• Have two years of qualifying business experience in the last five years.
• Submit a business plan with at least $150,000 in eligible investments that creates at least one full-time job.
• Score at least 65 out of 100 on the selection factor grid.

What counts as business experience?

You must have owned 51% or more of a private company, or been a senior manager in a for-profit business. In that role you must have managed daily operations and supervised at least two employees.

All amounts are in Canadian dollars. You must also pay for a net worth verification by an approved accounting firm, federal work permit and permanent residence fees, and your moving costs. INB's notices say MDD Forensic Accountants no longer takes new clients for this stream, and point candidates to Doane Grant Thornton LLP or MNP LLP.

You must be able to show where your money came from. Funds that cannot be traced to legal sources can lead to refusal.

The steps below come from INB's stream page. Key deadlines after you arrive:

If you miss these deadlines or do not meet the Business Performance Agreement, INB may not nominate you. Plan your finances for a long stay: you can only ask for nomination after six months of operations, and IRCC then needs time to process your permanent residence application.

You submit a free expression of interest (EOI) through the INB portal. The Business Immigration stream is not on INB's list of streams with scheduled draws, so invitations come at the province's discretion based on its priorities and allocation. Meeting the minimum rules does not guarantee an invitation.

One INB profile can have only one active EOI or application. After you are nominated, you cannot withdraw to reapply under another New Brunswick stream.

Business immigration is expensive and slow, and the business has to succeed in a small market. Before you commit:

• Visit the province and research your market and costs.
• Get independent advice from a lawyer or a licensed consultant (RCIC). See how to verify a lawyer or consultant.
• Be careful with anyone who promises a guaranteed nomination or sells a ready-made business for immigration. See immigration scam protection.

If you have a criminal record or a past refusal, speak to a licensed professional before you apply.

Other Atlantic provinces run similar entrepreneur streams:

• Nova Scotia Entrepreneur stream
• Newfoundland and Labrador International Entrepreneur
• Prince Edward Island Business Work Permit stream

At the federal level, the Start-Up Visa closed at the end of 2025 and the Self-Employed Persons Program is paused. See investing in Canada for an overview.