Investors Program

 

Latest News: On June 24, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced that the Federal Investor Program would only accept 700 applications for processing for the year between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. On July 4, 2011, the quota was filled. Until June 30, 2012, Investors may still apply for Canadian permanent residence under the Quebec Investors Program.

 

Canada offers two investor programs, respectively by Canada (the federal program) and Quebec. The investor programs differ from other business immigration programs in that applicants are required to only invest a sum of money, and not to participate in the management or direction of any business.

The requirements of both the federal and Quebec programs are almost identical. The applicants must have a personal net worth of at least C$1,600,000 that was legally obtained, and be willing and able to make an investment of C$800,000. Investors must also have at least two years of management experience in the last five years prior to the application.

For the Federal program, the management experience must be either managing at least five full-time job equivalents per year in a business, or managing a qualifying business with a percentage of equity of a qualifying business, or for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application.

A qualifying business must not be operated primarily for the purpose of deriving investment income such as interest, dividends or capital gains, and must, in each of any two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application and ending on the date of the interview decision, there is proof of any two of the following:

  1. That the percentage of equity multiplied by the number of full-time job equivalents is equal to or greater than two full-time job equivalents per year;
  2. That the percentage of equity multiplied by the total annual sales is equal to or greater than $500,000;
  3. That the percentage of equity multiplied by the net income in the year is equal to or greater than $50,000; or
  4. That the percentage of equity multiplied by the net assets at the end of the year is equal to or greater than $125,000.

For the Quebec program, the management experience must be gained in either a farming, commercial or industrial business, or in a legal professional business where the staff, excluding the investor, occupies at least the equivalent of two full-time jobs, or for an international agency or a government or one of its departments or agencies.

In addition to this, applicants must achieve a certain number of points on such factors as age, education, business experience, language skills and adaptability. Normally investor applicants will satisfy this condition if they meet the personal net worth and management experience requirements. For the Quebec program, applicants need also to demonstrate that they intend to and will live in Quebec.

The C$800,000 investment made through an authorized financial intermediary. The money will be returned to the investor after 5 years of investment, without interest. Most financial intermediaries offer the option of borrowing the C$800,000 upfront for 5 years, with a fund of around C$200,000 (which may be considered as the interest of the loan).

Due to the complexity of the investor application, investors should consult a competent immigration lawyer to discuss the fastest and most effective goal to achieve their goal.

 

More on:

Business immigration

Canadian permanent residence application

Citizenship application