Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab told the Canadian Club Toronto that the government will consult businesses before it relaunches the program for foreign entrepreneurs. The new program will be “smaller scale,” though, she said. (The Logic)

Talking point: Ottawa launched the startup program in 2013 as a way to create more jobs, but Diab said it went sideways and was a target for fraud. The immigration plan she tabled in November suggests the government is looking to bring in about 500 new permanent residents per year under a combination of the startup program and a program for self-employed artists and athletes. That’s compared to the 7,635 people who came to Canada under those programs in 2024. Diab also announced the department’s plan to prioritize researchers, senior managers with Canadian experience, pilots, aircraft mechanics and inspectors and foreign military personnel as part of its Express Entry programs.