You can explore many paths to immigrate to Canada, and the Federal Self-Employed is just one of those paths. It is how I immigrated to Canada; it has been an interesting journey.
Unfortunately, the Federal Self-Employed Program has a backlog that has increased processing times to over four years, which is quite a long time to wait for news. When I immigrated, my processing time was under 10 months.
The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, announced a significant change to this program last week to reduce the processing times and backlog of federal self-employment applications.
Minister Miller announced a temporary halt in the intake of applications for the Self-Employed Program, effective immediately.
The federal Self-Employed Program is for individuals with significant experience in art, culture, recreation, or sports who will contribute to Canada’s cultural vitality.
While the program is frozen, processes will be implemented to revamp it and ensure its long-term viability and effectiveness.
The freeze in the self-employment program will be in effect until the end of 2026.
Good news if your application is in the backlog. One way or another, you will find out the status of your application soon.
This may be bad news if you intend to immigrate to Canada under the Federal Self-employment program in the next few years, but note that the program hasn’t been canceled. It is only on hold until the end of 2026.
If you do not want to wait that long before you apply to immigrate to Canada, you can consider several other avenues offered here.
Minister Miller also made announcements on changes to the Start-up Visa Program. You can read the full announcement here.
Abi has lived and worked abroad for over 13 years. She loves traveling, reading, and writing. She is a big believer in following your dreams and has been marching to the beat of her unconventional drums for a long time. She funds her adventures by making smart financial decisions and investing wisely. Her top personal finance tools include trading with Questrade, investing change on MOKA, and no-fee banking with Tangerine and Neo Financial. Learn more about Abi HERE.
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