Recent evidence on the financing of small businesses indicates that immigrant and Canadian entrepreneurs enjoyed similar approval rates for their applications for debt (Leung et al., 2018). Superficially, it might appear that access to bank finance – the most common source of external finance for small firms – is no more difficult for immigrant entrepreneurs. However, this conclusion would hold only if the terms of loans did not systematically differ between these two groups, and if the propensity to apply was similar. If, on the other hand, immigrant businessowners were shown to pay a higher price for loans (i.e. higher interest rates), were subject to receiving less than they asked for, or were found to be less likely to apply for external finance for fear of rejection, then these would indicate greater cause for concern. While immigration is itself a binary event, one might anticipate that the perception of the immigrant as an ‘outsider’ or ‘newcomer’ might diminish over time. To advance knowledge of financial barriers facing immigrant entrepreneur, we aim to understand how recent immigrants mobilize external financial resources Personal information will be stored in the Personal Information Bank for the appropriate program. and how the process of acclimation in the host countries influence the immigrant entrepreneurs’ experience of seeking external financial resources. While the lack of credit and trading histories may inevitably entail higher risk on the part of immigrant owned businesses, it is expected, once they gain experience in the new business environment and establish credit and trading histories, incrementally increase their search for external financing and, where they are successful applicants, see improved loan terms. If financial barriers do not subside for well established immigrants, the prospects for businesses and economic growth will be retarded.