How we review it
Your documents come first
Here is what we look at, in order.
- 01
Review the existing file
Confirm the application number, submission date, commitment certificate, designated organization and current IRCC correspondence.
- 02
Identify material changes
Review changes to the business, essential-person status, family composition, address, passport or admissibility information.
- 03
Respond through the correct channel
Prepare any required update or response using the IRCC account, web form or other channel identified in the correspondence.
In plain terms
What does the Start-Up Visa pause mean?
Canada’s federal Start-Up Visa Program is paused for new applications. IRCC stopped accepting new commitment certificates after 31 December 2025 and accepted applications supported by a valid 2025 certificate only until 30 June 2026. IRCC continues to process files accepted before the pause.
This page is for existing applicants and current status information. It does not invite a new federal Start-Up Visa application. People planning a business in Canada can compare the business work-permit page, but a temporary route has its own rules and does not replace the paused permanent-residence program.
Who is this for?
You filed before 30 June 2026 with a valid commitment certificate and IRCC accepted the application. IRCC has requested updated business, family or admissibility records. Your ownership, essential-person status, designated-organization support, address, passport or family composition changed during processing.
A founder without an accepted file cannot start a new application now. Monitor the Program Status Board and IRCC’s official page rather than paying for a promised reopening or unofficial replacement pilot.
What does an immigration officer check?
The officer checks whether you meet the legal requirements and whether the records support the application you submitted.
Was the application accepted before the pause?
Existing-file support begins with the submission record, commitment certificate and IRCC application number.
A business plan or letter of support prepared now cannot create a new federal intake place.
Does the qualifying business still match the filed case?
IRCC may compare ownership, essential-person status, designated support and active management with the accepted record.
Material corporate or team changes need case-specific review and prompt, accurate disclosure.
Did the applicant answer every IRCC request?
Existing applicants must meet the deadline and provide records that answer the request.
The response should identify what changed and keep business, family, passport and admissibility information consistent.
Is any work authorization still valid?
A permanent-residence file does not itself authorize work.
IRCC stopped accepting new optional SUV work-permit applications on 19 December 2025 except eligible in-Canada extensions. Check the permit and current instructions separately.
What evidence makes the application easier to assess?
Good evidence answers a specific concern and agrees with the forms, dates and amounts elsewhere in the file.
Accepted file record
What it needs to prove: That IRCC received the application within the permitted transition.
What leaves questions: A courier receipt without the application number or acceptance correspondence.
What answers them: Submitted package, payment, commitment certificate, application number and IRCC messages.
Business continuity
What it needs to prove: How the qualifying business and applicant role developed after filing.
What leaves questions: A new pitch deck that does not explain departures or ownership changes.
What answers them: Corporate records, milestones, financing, team updates and a change log tied to the filed plan.
IRCC response record
What it needs to prove: That each request was answered accurately and on time.
What leaves questions: A document dump with no response to the numbered questions.
What answers them: A cover table matching each request to an exhibit and explaining unavailable records.
A composite example
Three founders filed with one person identified as essential. During processing, that founder leaves the company and sells shares. The remaining founders continue operating and assume the change can wait until IRCC asks.
The file is reviewed against the commitment certificate and designated-organization record. The applicants disclose the change through the correct channel with corporate documents and an explanation of its effect. Disclosure cannot repair every essential-person problem, but silence can create a second problem.
What will it cost?
There is no current government fee for starting a new federal Start-Up Visa application because intake is paused. Existing applicants pay only amounts IRCC lawfully requests for their file, such as updated biometrics or medical steps. Corporate records, translations and professional reports can add third-party costs.
We quote existing-file review or an IRCC response after seeing the accepted package and request. See our fees and cost guide.
How long can it take?
IRCC continues processing accepted inventory and does not promise a completion date for an individual file. You control contact updates, complete replies and prompt disclosure. IRCC controls verification, admissibility and the decision.
Check the IRCC processing-time tool ↗ and do not build business or travel commitments around an estimate.
Why can an existing Start-Up Visa file fail?
A refusal often starts with a question the records did not answer. A new application should address that reason with changed evidence, not simply send the same file again.
The qualifying business no longer meets the filed requirements
How to address it: Review corporate and designated-organization changes against the commitment record.
An essential-person change affects the application
How to address it: Obtain case-specific advice and disclose the change with the relevant organization and corporate records.
IRCC does not receive a complete response
How to address it: Answer each request by its deadline and explain any unavailable item.
Family, address or admissibility changes are omitted
How to address it: Keep IRCC updated through the correct channel and preserve proof.
What changed recently?
Rules and intake conditions can change. The application must use the requirements that apply on the day it is submitted.
New optional work-permit applications closed
IRCC stopped accepting new SUV optional work-permit applications except eligible in-Canada extensions.
Read the IRCC source ↗The federal program paused
IRCC stopped accepting new Start-Up Visa applications and continues to process accepted files.
Read the IRCC source ↗
What can you do yourself, and what can we do?
You can prepare and submit your own application. Professional help is useful when you want someone to test the evidence against the rules, identify gaps and put the scope in writing.
Do it yourself
You can keep IRCC contact information current, preserve the complete filed package and respond to straightforward requests yourself. Maintain a dated corporate and family change log.
Work with our office
We can review an accepted file, compare a change with the commitment record, prepare an IRCC response and assess a separate temporary status issue under a written retainer.
We do not sell a new Start-Up Visa application, commitment certificate or access to an unannounced pilot.
Where our work stops: We cannot reopen intake, obtain a designated-organization commitment after the deadline or promise that an existing file will be approved.
Start-Up Visa pause questions
Can I start a new Start-Up Visa application?
No. The federal program has been paused for new applications since 30 June 2026.
Will IRCC process my existing application?
IRCC says it will continue processing applications accepted before the pause. You must continue meeting applicable requirements and answer requests.
Can I get a new SUV open work permit?
IRCC closed new optional applications on 19 December 2025 except eligible in-Canada extensions. Review the current instructions for your permit.
What if a founder leaves the business?
Review the commitment certificate, essential-person status and corporate records immediately. The effect depends on the filed case.
When will the entrepreneur pilot open?
IRCC has discussed a future targeted pilot but has not published an intake process on the sources checked. Do not pay for promised access.
Official sources
The pages we checked when we last reviewed this program.