Requirements
- Personal net worth. At least $600,000, verifiable.
- Personal investment. At least $200,000 of your own capital into an active business registered in the province. It must be personal money, not borrowed and not provided by a third party.
- Ownership. At least 33.33 percent, so you do not need control. This is the single most useful difference from the regional stream, because it allows a genuine partnership.
- Business experience. Either three years as an active owner manager within the last ten years, or four years as a senior manager or executive within the last ten. An eligible post secondary credential can substitute for the experience, though it scores less well.
- Job creation. At least one new full time position for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, at 30 hours a week or more and a genuine market wage. It cannot be a family member and it cannot be your own role. Verified after the business is operating, not before.
- Location. Anywhere in British Columbia. Metro Vancouver is not excluded, which the regional stream cannot offer.
- New or existing. Either. You may establish a business or buy one that already trades, which shortens the runway considerably where a suitable business is available.
- Language. Not required to register. Whether a minimum applies later could not be confirmed from the current guide, so we establish that on a live file rather than assert it here.
Where these files fail
Not usually on the money. On three other things.
- The business concept score. Forty of the eighty available concept points are a hard floor, regardless of your total. It scores commercial viability, whether your skills transfer to what you propose, and what the province actually gains. A strong balance sheet does not rescue a weak plan.
- Spending before the agreement. Investment made before the performance agreement is signed cannot count towards compliance with it. Applicants who move early to demonstrate commitment can spend the money and still fail the assessment.
- The excluded business types. Home based businesses, passive investments earning only rental income, real estate development, sale or brokerage, insurance brokerage, payday lending and money exchange, bed and breakfasts, hobby farms, adult entertainment, coin operated laundries, tanning salons, second hand goods without value added, most simple franchises, automated car washes, and import or export trading with no demonstrated value added.
The invited score is higher than the minimum. The guide requires 105 for a single registrant, or 115 where two register together, plus 40 in the concept section. The most recent Base round invited at 117, with ten places. Clearing the minimum only puts you in the pool.
Requirements checker
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
Your situation
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Based on the British Columbia Entrepreneur Immigration Program Guide and the province's published draw table, reviewed 18 August 2026. This checks the published thresholds only. It does not score your business concept, which carries a mandatory minimum of its own and is where these applications are usually decided. Meeting the thresholds does not mean you will be invited or nominated. General information, not legal advice.