Possibly, but only if the plan credibly shows the business will employ others and earn more than his own living within five years; a permanent one-person operation is marginal and does not qualify.
Solo at launch is acceptable; solo by design is not
Nothing in the treaty-investor rules forbids a founder from being the first and only worker in the enterprise on the day the visa issues. The regulation instead asks whether the enterprise has the present or future capacity to produce more than a minimal living for the investor and family, and it allows future capacity to be shown where it is likely to be reached within five years. A Cantley consultant can satisfy that by presenting a plan in which the first technician is hired at a stated month, a second in the following year, and revenue from named U.S.
clients exceeds the household’s needs by year three, with projections that a reader can test against the client agreements. He must also hold Canadian nationality, own at least half of the enterprise, have committed substantial funds irrevocably, and be entering to develop and direct the business rather than to serve as a technician for one client. Hypothetical example: a custom bicycle-fitting studio has a treaty-national owner but plans to take refundable deposits until the visa is issued.
Nationality and ownership are only the starting point. The first review should trace the owner’s lawful funds, identify which contracts expose those funds to loss, and test whether the staffing plan moves the business beyond support for one household. A refundable arrangement may leave the capital too easily recoverable to satisfy the commitment analysis.