I agree with
@Palamon said.
they look into whether you can sustain yourself/your family in Canada without a job - as a self employed business/individual. that entails quite a bit - new business development, business management, accounts etc. plus hopefully create future employment for others.
I respectfully disagree. This is mostly due to the fact that I managed to immigrate using this stream despite not ever having been self employed. The reasons why I applied despite never being self employed are several. If you actually read the qualification requirements here
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/self-employed/eligibility.html you will note they qualify eligibility as having "taken part in cultural activities or athletics at a world-class level". No mention of needing self employed experience (that's for the second group that qualify). They go on and clarify that the experience should be "2 one-year periods participating at a world-class level in cultural activities". Note that it says
participating and not
self-employed.
@Nornor already broke down what they mean by "world class" earlier. It's upon the applicant to prove they meet that criteria
Also if you look at the operation manual that guides processing of self employed cases
here, they break it down further saying
The self-employed applicant is one who: has relevant experience; and has the intention and ability to be self–employed in Canada; and intends to make a significant contribution in specified economic activities as defined in the Regulations through either: o self-employment in cultural activities; o self-employment in athletics, or; o self-employment in the purchase and management of a farm.
That's in section 11.2. So essentially if you can make the case that your employed experience is relevant and you have the
intention to be self employed in Canada then you meet the qualification criteria. Having self employed experience is NOT NEEDED but is just one of the several ways you can qualify for this stream. Hope that helps