Provincial business candidates or Quebec self-employed applicants approved for a Quebec selection certificate seeking eventual permanent residence – [R205(a) – C60] – Canadian interests – International Mobility Program

In these instructions “officer” refers to employees of both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Service Agency.

The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with

• Employer-specific work permits with Labour Market Impact Assessment exemptions
• Conditions and validity period on work permits

There are specific situations that IRCC considers, by policy, as meeting the requirements of paragraph 205(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, where the work of a foreign national creates significant social, cultural or economic benefits or opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The department has created labour market impact assessment (LMIA) exemption categories (using unique administrative codes) to capture different considerations for those specific situations

C60 is the administrative LMIA exemption code that provides that the work of certain foreign nationals entering Canada to create or maintain a business as an entrepreneur, where they are supported by a province or territory, may create significant benefits. For workers who do not meet the specific considerations for a C60 exemption, officers may still assess them on a case-by-case basis, possibly under the broader LMIA exemption code C10, also used for assessment under paragraph R205(a).

Overview

In these instructions, “selection” or “selected” is used to describe foreign nationals supported by Quebec. “Nomination” or “nominee” is used to describe foreign nationals supported by any province or territory other than Quebec.

There are 2 categories of foreign nationals who seek temporary entry to Canada as business owners

1. Temporary purpose
2. Business candidate

Temporary purpose

The first category applies to those who only seek entry for a temporary, usually seasonal, purpose to run their existing business (usually self-employed people). Self-employed people are foreign nationals who have not been accepted into a business program by any province or territory.

Business candidate

The second category applies to those who seek entry as a business candidate to start or run their business to meet the requirements for provincial nomination or selection as an entrepreneur or the requirements for the federal Start-up Business Visa.

In the case of provincial programs, the business candidate first applies to a province or territory for acceptance into the provincial business immigration program. If the candidate is approved, the province or territory will provide them with a support letter to obtain a work permit. The candidate is then required to implement their business plan and meet specific provincial requirements, usually for 2 years, before they are provided a Confirmation of Nomination letter or a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ) for permanent residence.

Once a business candidate has been given a formal Confirmation of Nomination, they can apply for a work permit under paragraph R204(c) instead of paragraph R205(a).

See Work permits for provincial nominees for further information.

On this page

• Overview
• Eligibility for provincial business candidates (no nomination or CSQ)
• Documentary evidence
• Fields to review from the offer of employment in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
• Significant benefit considerations for provincial business candidates
• Dual intent
• Extensions
• Work permit issuance in GCMS
• Quebec-destined entrepreneurs or self-employed people issued a CSQ
  • Eligibility and documentary evidence
• Work permit issuance in GCMS

Eligibility for provincial business candidates (no nomination or CSQ)

A foreign national who is a business candidate for nomination or selection for permanent residence by a province or territory may be issued a work permit in advance of their formal nomination or selection if they show their work will create or maintain significant benefits to Canada.

For specific information on the various business programs, officers can review the websites provided by the provinces and territories.

The foreign national must

• have a paragraph R205(a) work permit support letter that provides evidence as to how the applicant may provide significant benefit to the province or territory of destination
• provide evidence of how their business will provide significant economic, social or cultural benefits to Canadian citizens or permanent residents
  • The support letter is an indicator of benefit, but should not be the only evidence provided.
• provide evidence that they can perform the work they are applying to do in Canada.
  • This includes, but is not limited to, proof of
    • a language assessment
    • educational level obtained
    • work experience
    • meeting any regulated occupation requirements
• satisfy an officer that they will leave Canada at the end of their authorized stay if they do not obtain permanent residence

Documentary evidence

Officers should be aware that, for business candidates, the foreign national is both employer and employee. They must meet the requirements for both roles.

To prove they are eligible, a foreign national must provide

• either
  • an offer of employment number generated by the Employer Portal when they submit the offer for themselves, or
  • the Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) form [IMM 5802] if authorized by the Client Experience Branch or Immigration Program Guidance Branch to submit the form (see Alternate submission [IMM 5802] for details)
• proof of payment of the employer compliance fee
• an application for a work permit
• the support letter from the province or territory indicating potential nomination or selection in an entrepreneurial stream
  • in accordance with the Federal-Provincial/Territorial Agreements, self-employed people are not eligible for nomination
  • under the Canada – Quebec Accord, foreign nationals selected as self-employed are not eligible
• supporting documentation that
  • shows how the business will create or maintain significant cultural, social or economic benefit
  • provides an indication of the temporary nature of the foreign national’s stay to satisfy an officer that they will leave Canada

The business candidate should provide supporting documentation that they will be engaging in genuine business activities and have a viable business plan. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:

• a copy of any signed agreement with the applicable province
• a viable business plan
• a staffing plan
• evidence of any measures taken to initiate the business plan (for example, obtaining a business number or articles of incorporation)
• evidence of the financial ability to commence business in Canada and compensate employees
• evidence of satisfactory English or French language ability
• evidence of sufficient funds to support themselves while in Canada

Fields to review from the offer of employment in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)

When assessing the significant benefit of the foreign national’s work, officers should review the fields below that appear under the Employment Details tab in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for information provided by the employer (who may also be the work permit applicant) or the matching fields on the IMM 5802 form (if authorized).

Field	Considerations
LMIA Exemption Title and LMIA Exemption Code	The employer is required to select this from a drop-down list of values in the Employer Portal. This code cannot be changed on the Offer of Employment. Employers should select C60 – Entrepreneurs / self-employed candidates seeking to operate a business – R205(a0.
Requirements Exemptions Met	Information in this field outlines how the entrepreneur’s business will create or maintain benefits for Canada. See Significant benefit considerations(opens in a new tab) . If the employer only indicates “See attached,” there should be a document uploaded to GCMS in the Organization and Entities screen tab, under the Offer of Employment view tab, Attachments view.
NOC and Job Title	Generic NOC code: 88888 Job title: Entrepreneur It should be the code used in the Employer Portal submission or IMM 5802.
Duties	These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing. Do they align with the significant benefit and the activities required for entrepreneurship?
Job Requirements	Are there specific requirements that align with the benefit? For example, experience managing a business in the same industry sector, proof of cultural status, experience in the occupations in the business or language requirements to perform the work.
Minimum Education Requirements	Are the educational requirements compatible with the stated significant benefit outlined in the Offer of Employment? The client’s education may have some bearing on whether the client meets the job requirements; however, its relative weight may be less if their work experience is sufficient.

Significant benefit considerations for provincial business candidates

Officers can review the instructions in Significant benefit to Canada [R205(a) – C10](opens in a new tab)  for general guidelines on assessing what is a significant economic, social or cultural benefit.

In addition to the general guidelines, for the purpose of the specific administrative LMIA exemption code C60, indicators of “significant” may include

• general economic stimulus (such as job creation, development in a regional or remote setting, or expansion of export markets for Canadian products and services)
• advancement of Canadian industry (such as technological development, product or service innovation, or differentiation or opportunities for improving the skills of Canadians)

Officers should complete an assessment of whether the work of the business candidate will create benefits for Canadian citizens or permanent residents beyond the candidate’s immediate family. Questions to consider in determining whether paragraph R205(a) is met include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Does the applicant have the experience and education to manage a business in the proposed industry or field?
• Does the applicant have the language abilities needed to operate the business?
• Is the work likely to create a viable business that will benefit Canadian or permanent resident workers outside of the applicant or their family members, or provide economic stimulus to an area?
• Does the applicant have a particular background or skills that will improve the viability of the business and thereby create employment opportunities or economic stimulus to a greater area?
• Is there a business plan that clearly shows that the applicant has taken steps to initiate their business and a timeline for complete implementation?
• Has the applicant taken some measure to put the business plan in action (evidence of having the financial ability to begin the business and pay expenditures, renting space, having a staffing plan, obtaining a business number, showing ownership documents or agreements, etc.)?

Dual intent

There are 2 categories of potential permanent residence applicants who may apply for a work permit under this category

• foreign nationals who are undertaking business activities as potential provincial nominees or selected and have support letters
• Quebec-destined entrepreneurs or self-employed people issued a CSQ

Although applicants may have a dual intent to seek status as temporary workers and eventually as permanent residents, as per paragraph R200(1)(b), they must always satisfy the officer that they will leave Canada at the end of the temporary period authorized under section R185.

The applicant must be able to demonstrate that they maintain the capacity and willingness to leave Canada should their employment end or they fail to obtain permanent residence.

Extensions

An extension beyond 2 years under this work permit category can be granted only if an application for permanent residence is already in process or in exceptional circumstances.

Examples of exceptional circumstances might be significant investment projects or applicants for whom a provincial nomination certificate is still pending for reasons outside the applicant’s control.

Officers must remain satisfied that the applicant will leave Canada if required.

Work permit issuance in GCMS

The work permit will be issued under the authority of paragraph R205(a).

Under the “Application” screen, officers should enter or confirm the following information in the specified fields:

Field	Selection or input
Case type	52 when the Offer of Employment was submitted through the Employer Portal and an “A” number exists 20 only when authorized to submit the IMM 5802 form
Province of destination	Province or territory as per the Offer of Employment and provincial support letter
City of destination	Unknown
Exemption code	C60 This will auto-populate when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal.
NOC	88888 (generic code) This will auto-populate when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal.
Intended occupation	Entrepreneur This is will auto-populate when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal.
LMIA/LMIA-exempt #	“A” number from the Offer of Employment submitted in the Employer Portal If the foreign national is authorized to use the IMM 5802 form, then no LMIA-exempt # is required. See Alternate submission [IMM 5802](opens in a new tab) . Note: If the applicant has entered a fictitious offer of employment number (such as A9999999), as instructed when they were authorized to use the IMM 5802, this fictitious number should be deleted from this field.
Employer	Foreign national’s name or business name as per the Offer of Employment or auto-populated when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal
Duration	As per the Offer of Employment, to a maximum of 2 years

Quebec-destined entrepreneurs or self-employed people issued a CSQ

A work permit may be issued to entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals destined to Quebec if a CSQ has been issued, but the foreign national is not yet a permanent resident. While Quebec does not have a provincial or territorial nominee program, special consideration is applicable on the basis of the Canada-Quebec Accord.

Eligibility and documentary evidence

Quebec-supported entrepreneurs can apply for a work permit prior to receiving their CSQ. However, if they already hold a CSQ as an entrepreneur or self-employed person, they may submit a work permit application under paragraph R205(a).

To be eligible, a foreign national must

• have a valid CSQ as an entrepreneur or self-employed person
• have a support letter from the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration
• have received either
  • an offer of employment number, or
  • authorization by the Client Experience Branch or the Immigration Program Guidance Branch to submit the Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) form [IMM 5802] (see Employer-specific work permits with Labour Market Impact Assessment exemptions for details)
• have paid the employer compliance fee (entrepreneurs and self-employed persons are considered their own employer and must therefore pay the employer compliance fee)
• have submitted an application for a work permit

Work permit issuance in GCMS

The work permit will be issued under the authority of paragraph R205(a) and will be coded as shown below.

Field	Selection or input
Case type	52 when the Offer of Employment was submitted through the Employer Portal and an “A” number exists 20 only when authorized to submit the IMM 5802 form
Province of destination	Quebec
City of destination:	Leave blank or unknown
Exemption code	C60 This code is auto-populated from the LMIA-exempt Offer of Employment. This code should only be changed in specific circumstances. For further instructions, see Changes between the offer of employment and the work permit application.
NOC	88888 (generic code) Should be the same code used in the Employer Portal submission or on IMM 5802.
Intended occupation	Entrepreneur This will auto-populated when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal.
LMIA/LMIA-exempt #	“A” number from the offer of employment submitted in the Employer Portal If the foreign national is authorized to use the IMM 5802 form, then no LMIA-exempt # is required. See Alternate submission [IMM 5802](opens in a new tab)
Employer	Foreign national’s name or business name as per the offer of employment or auto-populated when matched with the offer from the Employer Portal
Duration	As per the offer of employment, to a maximum of 2 years

Related links

• Entrepreneurs or self-employed individuals seeking only temporary residence – [R205(a) – C60] – International Mobility Program
• Significant benefit to Canada [R205(a) – C10](opens in a new tab) 
• Foreign camp owner or director and outfitters
• Fishing guides
• Horse jockeys
• Start-up business class