The Self-Employed Class is geared towards applicants who have relevant self-employment experience as well as the intention and the ability to create their own employment and make a significant contribution to the cultural, artistic or athletic life of Canada, or to create their own employment by purchasing and managing a farm in Canada.

A successful applicant is one who has at least two years of experience in the five years before the date of the application in self-employment in cultural activities or in athletics; participation at a world-class level in cultural activities or athletics; or farm management experience.

To qualify, the applicant must demonstrate a sufficient financial net worth which, although somewhat less than an entrepreneur and not specified in the regulations, should enable the applicant to be self-employed in Canada and make a significant contribution to specified economic activities in Canada and to meet the initial settlement requirements for the applicant and accompanying dependants.

As of March 10, 2018, the federal government is no longer accepting new applications under the farm management stream.

In the province of Quebec, self-employed applicants are primarily differentiated from skilled worker applicants in that they come to Canada to create their own job by practicing a profession or commercial activities.

They must have two years of applicable experience, possess a personal net worth of $100,000 CAD, have sufficient settlement funding and will come to Quebec to create employment for the applicant by practicing a profession defined in the National Occupational Classification.

Like skilled workers, the self-employed applicant is assessed under a selection grid comprised of several factors.