Canada’s 2027 Federal Business target rises to 1,500 from 500
David Le
The 1,500 includes admissions from the Start-up Visa and Self-employed Persons programmes, both of which take no new applications, and the budget mentions a startup pilot in one sentence that gives no amount.
On 5 November 2026, the day Budget 2026 was released, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) published its 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan. For the Federal Business class, which includes admissions from the Start-up Visa and Self-employed Persons programmes, IRCC plans 1,500 permanent-resident admissions in 2027, against 500 in the previous plan, then 2,725 in 2028 and 1,000 in 2029. Neither programme takes new applications.
The plan’s Federal Business row
In IRCC’s supplementary tables, the footnote to the Federal Business row reads: “Includes admissions from the Start-up Visa Program and the Self-employed Persons Program.” The 2026–2028 plan carried the same footnote.
| Year | 2026–2028 plan, target (range) | 2027–2029 plan, target (range) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 500 (250–1,000) | not covered |
| 2027 | 500 (250–1,000) | 1,500 (500–5,000) |
| 2028 | 500 (250–1,000) | 2,725 (1,500–3,500) |
| 2029 | not covered | 1,000 (500–2,000) |
A footnote to the new table reads: “Notional targets and ranges for 2028 and 2029 will be confirmed or adjusted each year.” Another says the ranges give IRCC operational flexibility.
An article of 30 September 2026 on provincial entrepreneur streams reported the 500 for 2026 to 2028, which the new plan replaces for 2027 and 2028.
IRCC’s annual report says Canada admitted 2,210 principal applicants and their accompanying spouses and dependants through the two programmes in 2025. Its Table 3A shows 2,160 for the Federal Business row, against a planned range for 2025 of 1,200 to 3,000. The 2027 target is above the 500 set for 2026 and below both admissions figures for 2025; the 2028 target of 2,725 is above both.
Who can be admitted under the two programmes
The Start-up Visa page reads “Status: Paused”. Only holders of a valid 2025 commitment certificate could apply, by 30 June 2026. The page adds: “The program is closed to all other applications.”
The annual report says: “Application intake is currently paused for both programs.” IRCC’s transition binder gives a reason for the Start-up Visa pause: “New application intake in this program is indefinitely paused in order to help address the application backlog and associated client wait times.”
While both programmes stay closed to new applications, the only files IRCC can decide under them are the ones it already holds. In a notice of 19 December 2025, written while the 2026–2028 plan was in force, IRCC said it was prioritising the permanent-residence applications of Start-up Visa work-permit holders already in Canada, to the extent that Levels Plan targets allowed.
What the budget says about the replacement pilot
Chapter 3 of the budget lists one sentence on the pilot, under progress on the International Talent Attraction Strategy that Budget 2025 announced:
The development of a new high-impact startup pilot to attract entrepreneurs and innovators with the potential to create jobs and commercialise innovation in Canada.
It gives no criteria, quota, date or amount, and it is the only mention of the pilot in the six chapters, the four annexes and the Budget in Brief.
The chapter’s table row “Building a more responsive and resilient immigration system” totals CAD 511 million over five years, before a deduction of CAD 224 million in projected revenues.
Chapter 3 attaches CAD 56.9 million over four years to the levels plan, CAD 302.3 million over four years to the transition of temporary residents and CAD 151.5 million over five years to Temporary Foreign Worker Program reform, a total of CAD 510.7 million. Those measures account for the row to within rounding, and no separate amount for the pilot appears in it.
The budget does not say the pilot replaces the Start-up Visa. IRCC’s own documents do. Its 2026–27 Departmental Plan, dated 13 March 2026, says:
Creating a new high impact Start-up Visa pilot that will replace and address observed issues with the existing Start-Up Visa program, to better support business development and economic growth. Eligibility criteria and streamlined program elements will focus on elite entrepreneurs.
IRCC’s transition binder, modified on 4 September 2026, says the Minister is pursuing the launch of a High Impact Start-up Pilot to replace the Start-Up Visa Program. Neither document gives a date.
What it means for a Vietnamese founder
- A founder whose Start-up Visa application IRCC already holds sits in the class this row counts, which covers both programmes together, and the 2027 target for it is three times the earlier plan’s. Neither the plan nor the notice gives a date or an order for any one file.
- A founder who held a 2025 commitment certificate and did not apply by 30 June 2026 meets a page that says the programme is closed to all other applications, and the plan announces no new window.
- A founder with no file finds no route in the plan or the budget, and the pilot has no published cap or opening date.
The earlier article on the pause sets out how a paid commitment differs from an accepted application.
What this article has not established
The three figures rest on IRCC’s supplementary table alone. The annual report gives category totals and sends readers to that table; no second source carrying the figures was found on 6 November.
No published figure for the number of applications held in the two programmes was found. Whether the pilot’s admissions would be counted in this row is not stated; the footnote names two programmes and does not say “only”.
No source read states a reason for the higher target. The French text, the Canada Gazette and any IRCC statement after 5 November were not read, and IRCC was not asked.
No date was found for the publication of the pilot’s criteria.
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