Where this stands
This is the least restricted part of the New Brunswick programme. Every worker route in the province carries sector bars, occupation bars or both. We found none on this one, which makes New Brunswick unusual in 2026, when Ontario and Saskatchewan have no business route at all.
The governing guide predates the 2026 restrictions, and that is worth knowing
The province's Business Immigration Stream application guide is dated March 2025. We could not locate a more recent version. New Brunswick made significant changes to its worker streams in February and May 2026, and while we found nothing extending those to this stream, a guide that predates them is a guide worth confirming rather than assuming.
Every figure on this page comes from that guide or from the province's current pages. Before capital moves, the thresholds should be confirmed against whatever version is then in force, because a superseded investment figure is an expensive thing to rely on.
- The investment threshold is low. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is materially below what most provinces ask. Manitoba asks $250,000 inside its capital region, and Ontario's former stream asked $600,000 inside Toronto. For a smaller business this is one of the more reachable thresholds in the country.
- Agriculture is treated differently in both directions. The net worth threshold drops from $500,000 to $300,000, and an exploratory visit becomes mandatory before an expression of interest can be submitted. One concession and one additional requirement.
- It replaced the Entrepreneurial stream. Any guidance describing an active New Brunswick Entrepreneurial stream is out of date. The old forms remain in use only for existing clients of that stream.
- No deposit is described. The official guide sets out no deposit or escrow arrangement. Capital goes into the business.
- The residence obligation is specific and enforceable. Seventy-five percent of a two-year establishment period, and within 100 kilometres of the business. That is not a formality and it should be planned for before you commit.
What the stream requires
| Requirement | What New Brunswick asks for |
|---|---|
| Personal net worth | At least $500,000, or at least $300,000 for the agriculture sector. Must be legally obtained and verifiable, and includes the assets of a spouse or common-law partner. Inheritances, donations and gifts received less than six months before the application are excluded. |
| Net worth verification | By one of three designated firms, being Doane Grant Thornton in Fredericton, MDD Forensic Accountants in Halifax, or MNP in Vancouver. Do not engage a verifier until you have received an invitation to apply. |
| Minimum investment | At least $150,000 before taxes, excluding items for personal use. You must control at least 33.3 percent of the equity. |
| Business experience | At least two years within the past five, either owning at least 51 percent of a for-profit business or in senior management of one, with active daily management and supervision of at least two employees. |
| Job creation | At least one full time job, meaning 30 hours a week or more, for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in New Brunswick, who is not you, your spouse or a family member. |
| Language | At least CLB or NCLC 4 in all four abilities. |
| Education | At least a Canadian high school diploma or a foreign equivalent with an educational credential assessment less than five years old. |
| Age | 19 to 59. |
| Exploratory visit | Not mandatory for most sectors, and worth points where made within the twelve months before applying and lasting at least five full business days. Mandatory for the agriculture sector before an expression of interest can be submitted. |
| Fees | The expression of interest is free and valid for twelve months. A processing fee of $2,000, non-refundable, falls due on invitation, with no additional charge for family members. |
Ineligible businesses include consultancy, e-commerce and online businesses, bed and breakfasts, coin-operated businesses, home-based businesses, landlord and rental management, immigration-linked passive investments, adult services, not-for-profits, and professional practices without proof of a New Brunswick licence. That list is longer than most provinces publish and it should be the first thing you check.
| Component | Limit |
|---|---|
| Business premises or land | Maximum 25 percent of the investment |
| Leasehold improvements | Maximum 25 percent |
| Manufacturing equipment | May count in full |
| Office equipment | Counts, with no separate cap published |
| Initial inventory | Maximum 50 percent |
| First six months of operational costs | Counts, with no separate cap published |
| Professional services | Maximum 4 percent, or $10,000, whichever is lower |
| A business vehicle | Maximum 5 percent, or $15,000, whichever is lower |
These caps are the part of the stream most often overlooked, and they change what a given plan is worth. A business whose costs are concentrated in premises and inventory can find that a good deal of its actual outlay does not count towards the $150,000, because premises are capped at a quarter and inventory at a half.
How the application is scored
New Brunswick scores this stream out of 100 with a minimum of 65. We publish the factor maxima and the business plan sub-factors, which the guide sets out. We do not publish a calculator, because the guide's internal bands for age, language and education were not something we could confirm in full, and a calculator built on guessed bands would produce a number that looks authoritative and is not.
| Factor | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Age | 10 |
| Language skills | 25, being up to 20 for a first official language and up to 5 for a second |
| Education | 20 |
| Business ownership or senior management experience | 15 for ownership, or 9 for senior management |
| Business plan | 25 |
| Adaptability, for a spouse | 5 |
| Total | 100, with a minimum of 65 |
Business ownership experience is worth six more points than senior management experience. Where a candidate could credibly be characterised as either, that distinction is worth establishing carefully rather than leaving to an assessor.
| Sub-factor | Points |
|---|---|
| An exploratory visit | 5 |
| Transfer of five or more years of experience in the same industry | 4 |
| A location outside Greater Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton | 5 |
| Detailed market research | 5 |
| Inclusion of the relevant statutes and regulations | 3 |
| Eligible investment above $500,000 | 3 |
| Eligible investment between $150,000 and $499,999 | 2 |
| Maximum | 25 |
The two investment figures are alternatives rather than additions, which is how the sub-factors reach 25 exactly. This table is the most actionable thing on the page, because four of the seven sub-factors are within your control at no capital cost, being the visit, the location, the market research and the regulatory analysis. Together those four are worth 18 of the 25.
The location point is worth reading twice. Five points for siting the business outside Greater Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton, on a grid where 65 of 100 is the threshold. Combined with a five-day exploratory visit, detailed market research and a plan that engages with the actual regulatory framework, that is eighteen points available without increasing the investment by a dollar.
Business Immigration Stream 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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The two years after approval
Where the real commitment sits
Approval is not nomination. What sits between them is a Business Performance Agreement and a two-year business establishment period with obligations that are specific, dated and enforceable.
| Stage | What is required |
|---|---|
| Performance agreement | Signed within sixty days of its issuance. Only then is a work permit support letter issued. |
| Arrival | Report your arrival in New Brunswick within one month. |
| Business opening | Report the opening of the business within nine months. |
| Residence | Live in New Brunswick for seventy-five percent of the two-year business establishment period, and within 100 kilometres of the business. |
| Operation | Operate the business for at least six consecutive months and meet the investment conditions in the agreement. |
| Requesting nomination | Submit the prescribed request form. A site visit and an interview follow. |
| Failure to establish | If the business is not established within the two-year period, nomination is refused. |
The establishment period runs two years from your arrival. Read the residence obligation alongside it. Seventy-five percent of two years within 100 kilometres of the business is a real constraint on travel and on any arrangement where the family settles elsewhere.
- You carry the risk first and the status comes last. Capital committed, a business opened, two years of residence largely in one place, then a site visit and an interview, then a nomination, then a separate federal application. Anyone describing this as buying permanent residence has not read the sequence.
- The nine-month opening deadline is the one that catches people. Nine months from arrival to a reported business opening is not long for a business needing premises, licensing or construction. The preparation that happens before you arrive is what makes that deadline reachable.
- The site visit means the business has to be real and visible. An operation that exists mainly on paper does not survive an in-person visit and an interview, and this is the stage at which that becomes apparent.
- A refusal at the end is not a refund. The $2,000 fee is non-refundable and the investment is in the business. Failure to establish within two years means refusal of nomination, with the capital already committed.