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The Federal Self-Employed Program is a unique way to work towards a permanent residence in Canada. Unlike other programs that consider just your contribution towards the Canadian economy, the program for Self-Employed persons rewards you for contributing to the Canadian culture and society at large. The program has been designed for artists, athletes, and professionals to migrate to Canada and generate employment. Since they will not be dependent on a structured enterprise, they do not have to go through the hassle of investing a large sum in acquiring stakes in a business or even launching a company. The Launch Immigration team is here to provide end-to-end support, advisory and consulting as necessary to help self-employed people go through the process and seamlessly attain a permanent residence status.
A Self-Employed person is generally an individual in the field of athletics, arts, or a professional endeavor that must have produced exceptional work in the last few years at a substantial stage. This can include performers as well as professional athletes. (The program earlier used to include a farming stream, which has not been accepting applicants since 2018.) The Self-Employed person is also supposed to be someone with a high net-worth or considerable access to capital. It is assumed that the person will migrate to Canada and will be able to sustain through the initial costs of setting up a life and profession while finding opportunities in and across Canada. Ideally, the Self-Employed person must have been engaged in her/his respective stream as a professional for at least two out of the last five years preceding the application. Hence, the individual must have accumulated a substantial body of work to showcase her/his skillsets. Athletes and artists are supposed must be able to prove:
Most other immigration programs expect an individual to either directly invest in a Canadian business or economy or raise capital from an accredited investment body in Canada. The Program for Self-Employed Persons does not carry any of those requirements. As long as individuals can show enough resources to facilitate the initial days of stay in Canada, they are considered fit for the program (assuming all other criteria are met).
Many provincial nominations and investment programs expect the applicant to invest or find a professional engagement in a certain economic zone or province. Since not all provinces have uniformly distributed economic opportunities, this can become challenging for the applicants. However, with the Federal Program for Self- Employed Persons, no such limits persist. The applications are processed at the federal level and hence are not limited to one province.
The Federal Program for Self-Employed Persons is one of the only programs with the room to bring dependents as the applicant migrates to Canada. This can include spouses or common-law partners.
The selection criteria for the program is a points-based system where maximum points suggest a higher likelihood of an applicant being accepted.
| Category | Maximum Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| Education | 25 |
| Experience | 35 |
| Age | 10 |
| Linguistic Abilities in English or French | 24 |
| Adaptibility | 6 |
The points are awarded on a base of 100, and the applicant must score at least a 35 in order to have an application eligible for further processing. Here is a detailed bifurcation of points across each category:
| Education Background | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| A master’s or doctoral degree with 17 years or more of full-time formal education. | 25 |
| 2 or more university bachelor’s degrees with 15 years or more of full-time formal education. | 22 |
| 3-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 15-years of full-time formal education | 22 |
| 2-year university bachelor’s degree with 14-years of full-time formal education. | 20 |
| 2-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 14-years of full-time formal education. | 20 |
| 1-year university bachelor’s degree with 13-years of full-time formal education. | 15 |
| 1-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 13-years of full-time formal education. | 15 |
| 1-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 12-years of full-time formal education. | 12 |
| High School Diploma | 5 |
| Maximum Points Awarded | 25 |
| Years of Experience | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| 2 | 20 |
| 3 | 25 |
| 4 | 30 |
| 5 | 35 |
| Maximum Points Awarded | 35 |
| Age(Years) | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| <16 | 0 |
| 17 | 2 |
| 18 | 4 |
| 19 | 6 |
| 20 | 8 |
| 21-49 | 10 |
| 50 | 8 |
| 51 | 6 |
| 52 | 4 |
| 53 | 3 |
| 54 | 2 |
| 54+ | 0 |
| Maximum Points Awarded | 10 |
| Profiency in First Language | Speaking | Listening | Reading | Writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Moderate | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Basic | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| No | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Profiency in Second Language | Speaking | Listening | Reading | Writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Moderate | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Basic | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| No | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Spouse or Partner Education | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| A master’s or doctoral degree with 17 years or more of full-time formal education. | 5 |
| 2-year or 3-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 14-years of full-time formal education. | 4 |
| 1-year diplomas, apprenticeship, or trade certificate alongside 12-years of full-time formal education. | 1 |
| High School Diploma | 0 |
| Canadian Experience | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| You or your spouse has completed at least one year of full-time professional experience on a valid work permit in Canada. | 5 |
| After the age of 17 years, you or your spouse must have completed at least two years of education at a post-secondary Canadian institution on a valid study permit. | 5 |
| You have a Canadian permanent resident, Canadian citizen, or someone legally residing in Canada who is your relative (grandparent, parent, grandchild, child, sibling, step-sibling, parent’s grandchild, aunt or uncle, or niece or nephew) | 5 |
The process can take as much as 24 months from the date of registration to acceptance of all the documents.
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The applicant must fulfill all the eligibility criteria necessary for the program. Here is a list of professions included in the program:
| 5111 | Librarians |
| 5112 | Conservators and Curators |
| 5113 | Activists |
| 5121 | Authors and Writers |
| 5122 | Editors |
| 5123 | Journalists |
| 5124 | Professional Occupations in Public Relations and Communications |
| 5125 | Translators, Terminologists, and Interpreters |
| 5131 | Producers, Directors, Choreographers, and Related Occupations |
| 5132 | Conductors, Composers, and Arrangers |
| 5133 | Musicians and Singers |
| 5134 | Dancers |
| 5135 | Actors and Comedians |
| 5136 | Painters, Sculptors, and Other Visual Arts |
| 5211 | Library and Archive Technicians and Assistants |
| 5212 | Technical Occupations Related to Museums and Art Galleries |
| 5221 | Photographers |
| 5222 | Film and Video Camera Operators |
| 5223 | Graphic Arts Technicians |
| 5224 | Broadcast Technicians |
| 5225 | Audio and Video Recording Technicians |
| 5226 | Other Technical and Co-ordinating Occupations in Motion Pictures, Broadcasting and the Performing Arts |
| 5227 | Support Occupations in Motion Pictures, Broadcasting and the Performing Arts |
| 5231 | Announcers and Other Broadcasters |
| 5232 | Other Performers |
| 5241 | Graphic Designers and Illustrators |
| 5242 | Interior Designers |
| 5243 | Theatre, Fashion, Exhibit and Other Creative Designers |
| 5244 | Artisans and Craftspersons |
| 5245 | Patternmakers – Textile, Leather, and Fur Products |
| 5251 | Athletes |
| 5252 | Coaches/td> |
| 5253 | Sports Officials and References |
| 5254 | Program Leaders and Instructors in Recreation, Sport and Fitness |
Yes. The program is designed for professionals who have a proven history of generating employment for themselves. As far as you can communicate that in your application and show sufficient resources to sustain yourself for the initial period after landing in Canada, you can seek employment later.
Only recruitment agencies working actively with the human capital markets can provide comprehensive assistance in employment generation. However, we provide expert advisory throughout the process to ensure your documentation is thorough and you have a clear plan about what happens next.
Yes. Your historical annual income might be gauged to evaluate your professional competence and the availability of resources to you.
We create an accessible repository of lists and guides to help you understand the format and list of all the documents necessary at every level in the process.
Our team consists of seasoned professionals working in Canada who intuitively understand the entire process. Alongside this, we use a sophisticated set of tools to verify your application's eligibility before we get started with the process. This saves time and shows the gaps in your application you can work on before starting the process.
Our team provides active advisory for every step in the process and will leave none of your queries unanswered.
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