In a surprise pre-holiday move, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has pressed the pause button on its best-known business immigration stream. Effective 00:01 EST on December 19, 2025, IRCC will no longer accept applications for the optional work permit that lets Start-Up Visa (SUV) applicants enter Canada while their permanent-residence (PR) files are processed. Applicants already in Canada may still extend a valid SUV-specific work permit, but newcomers outside the country must now wait until they receive PR approval before relocating.
The department went further, announcing that it will stop taking *any* new SUV permanent-residence applications after 23:59 EST on December 31, 2025—unless the would-be immigrant already holds a 2025-dated commitment certificate from a designated angel investor, venture-capital fund or incubator. IRCC also extended its long-running freeze on the Self-Employed Persons Program, citing a backlog that had climbed above 9,000 files and ballooning processing times of three to five years.
Officials say the drastic measures are needed to stabilise inventories before Ottawa rolls out a “targeted pilot program for immigrant entrepreneurs” in 2026. Sources tell Global Mobility News that the pilot will impose higher job-creation thresholds, require staged capital deployment, and be capped at 2,000 principal applicants per year—about 40 % of recent SUV intake. The government argues that a tighter funnel will ease pressure on housing and health-care systems while still attracting high-growth founders to priority sectors such as clean technology, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
![Canada Pauses Start-Up Visa Work Permit and Closes Program Ahead of New Entrepreneur Pilot]()
At this juncture, founders and HR teams may find it helpful to lean on a specialist such as VisaHQ, which tracks real-time IRCC updates and can steer applicants toward interim solutions—whether that means the Global Talent Stream, intra-company transfers or visitor options—while permanent pathways evolve. More information and free planning tools are available at https://www.visahq.com/canada/.
For multinational companies, the immediate takeaway is clear: executives should adjust relocation timelines for founders and key employees who intended to piggy-back on SUV work permits in 2026. Firms that rely on foreign entrepreneurs to expand Canadian R&D footprints may need to pivot to the Global Talent Stream or intra-company work permits until fresh pathways emerge. Immigration lawyers warn that an end-of-year rush is inevitable and urge clients to verify that commitment letters are dated 2025 if they hope to file before the December 31 cutoff.
Although industry groups support clearing backlogs, some fear that uncertainty could push promising start-ups south of the border. IRCC counters that the forthcoming pilot will be “more responsive to labour-market needs” and deliver faster decisions once inventories are under control—a promise the tech sector will watch closely in 2026.
The department went further, announcing that it will stop taking *any* new SUV permanent-residence applications after 23:59 EST on December 31, 2025—unless the would-be immigrant already holds a 2025-dated commitment certificate from a designated angel investor, venture-capital fund or incubator. IRCC also extended its long-running freeze on the Self-Employed Persons Program, citing a backlog that had climbed above 9,000 files and ballooning processing times of three to five years.
Officials say the drastic measures are needed to stabilise inventories before Ottawa rolls out a “targeted pilot program for immigrant entrepreneurs” in 2026. Sources tell Global Mobility News that the pilot will impose higher job-creation thresholds, require staged capital deployment, and be capped at 2,000 principal applicants per year—about 40 % of recent SUV intake. The government argues that a tighter funnel will ease pressure on housing and health-care systems while still attracting high-growth founders to priority sectors such as clean technology, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
At this juncture, founders and HR teams may find it helpful to lean on a specialist such as VisaHQ, which tracks real-time IRCC updates and can steer applicants toward interim solutions—whether that means the Global Talent Stream, intra-company transfers or visitor options—while permanent pathways evolve. More information and free planning tools are available at https://www.visahq.com/canada/.
For multinational companies, the immediate takeaway is clear: executives should adjust relocation timelines for founders and key employees who intended to piggy-back on SUV work permits in 2026. Firms that rely on foreign entrepreneurs to expand Canadian R&D footprints may need to pivot to the Global Talent Stream or intra-company work permits until fresh pathways emerge. Immigration lawyers warn that an end-of-year rush is inevitable and urge clients to verify that commitment letters are dated 2025 if they hope to file before the December 31 cutoff.
Although industry groups support clearing backlogs, some fear that uncertainty could push promising start-ups south of the border. IRCC counters that the forthcoming pilot will be “more responsive to labour-market needs” and deliver faster decisions once inventories are under control—a promise the tech sector will watch closely in 2026.
