INVESTOR

Source: IRCC Statistics and Open Data

Important note: The Federal Immigrant Investor Program is terminated & undecided applications were cancelled on June 19, 2014. IRCC is no longer accepting applications for this program.

About

The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) was an initiative created by the federal government of Canada to promote the immigration of businesspeople and their families, enabling qualified investors to obtain permanent resident status in Canada. Under the program, successful applicants and their families received permanent and unconditional Canadian residential visas and were eligible to obtain Canadian citizenship.

The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program was one of the most popular immigration investor programs in the world. Still, its requirements have not changed since its inception, and it has become one of the least expensive.

What was the objective of the Canada Investor program?

The IN class was launched in 1986 and redesigned through regulative changes on April 1, 1999, into the last cancelled program to attract experienced businesspersons and capital to Canada.

The IRPR state that the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) funds should use monies received to create or maintain employment in Canada to develop a strong and viable economy. To be eligible for immigration as an investor, the applicant needed to have business experience, a minimum personal net worth, and make a one-time investment into the Canadian economy. The INs investment was paid to the Government of Canada and redistributed to participating provinces and territories for economic development. The INs investment was fully repayable without interest after five years. There were no specific business expectations for INs post-admission, and they were not monitored once in Canada.

How much do I need to invest in Canada to get PR?

The IN class was revised on December 1, 2010, when the required investment and personal net worth amounts were doubled to $800,000 and $1.6 million on July 1, 2011. CIC imposed an annual cap of seven hundred new applications to manage the inventory of applications in progress. As of July 1, 2012, CIC stopped accepting applications for the federal IN class to concentrate on processing applications already received while the program was evaluated.

March 2014 update: Although the period covered by the evaluation was 2007-2011, significant program changes occurred while it was conducted. These changes were not considered part of the data collection. The Economic Action Plan 2014 announced on February 11, 2014, the termination of the federal immigrant investor and entrepreneur programs and the elimination of their associated backlogs of applications. At the time of termination, qualified investors were required to have the following:

• At least two years of business management experience on a qualifying business or managing at least five employees.
• Have a minimum net worth of CAD$1,600,000 (lawfully obtained) alone or with their accompanying spouse,
• Make a five-year guaranteed investment of CAD$800,000 of his funds with zero interest paid or pay a one-time interest, non-refundable financing fee of $200,000 to an authorized financial intermediary,
• Intend to reside in any Canadian province or territory apart from Quebec
• Meet specific health and Security requirements.

The investment was managed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and was guaranteed by the Canadian provinces that use it to create jobs and help their economies grow. Without interest, CIC returned the C$800,000 investment about five years and three months after payment. Applicants were usually required to invest within 30 days of the application’s approval. Once the application was approved and the investment made, the applicant and their immediate family applied for their permanent resident visas.

Today’s closest alternative to the Canadian Immigrant Investor Program would be immigrating through the Owner-Operator Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) pathway, a two-stage process. Entrepreneurs can still apply for immigration to Canada through the Start-Up Visa pilot program. Another pilot will be introduced to test a new approach to selecting Immigrant Investors.

How Can We Assist You?

At ARNIKA, we help business owners, entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, and investors find the most cost-effective programs that achieve their business and immigration goals. From filing a business proposal to guiding businesses during interviews/meetings with immigration officials, we take care of it all. We can assist you entirely or partially based on our different packages. We can advise you professionally regarding the required personalized supporting documents to increase the chance of your approval and, finally, submit your application to IRCC on your behalf as an authorized representative. Suppose you want to discover how the RCIC can help you. In that case, the first step is to complete the Assessment Form (To detail your personal, educational, and employment information) available on the site.

Important note: The Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) class pilot program is closed. Applications stopped being accepted on December 30, 2015. The IIVC program information in our instructions will be removed as the last applications that were being processed have now been finalized. The Quebec Investor Program is currently the only Canada Investor Visa available.

What is the Canada investor program?

The Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Pilot Program replaced the federal Canada Immigrant Investor Program. It was launched in December 2014, providing a route to Canadian permanent residence for high-net-worth individuals. The brand-new Canada investment immigration program was created to boost the local economy by attracting foreign direct investment in exchange for Canadian residency. Prospective immigrants who wished to participate in the IIVC Pilot Program needed to have a lawfully obtained net worth of at least $10 million and had to be willing to invest $2 million in Canada for 15 years.

What is the Canada investor program eligibility?

The core focus of the IIVC immigration pilot program was to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting foreign investment. To that end, the standards of the investment immigration program are highly selective. To qualify for this pilot, IIVC applicants had to:

• Make a $2 million at-risk investment for approximately 15 years
• Demonstrate a lawfully obtained net worth of $10 million or more through lawful business or investment activity
• Prove language proficiency in English or French in all four language abilities (speaking, reading, listening, and writing), meeting the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5.
• Have a Canadian post-secondary degree, diploma, or certificate of at least one year or the foreign equivalent as accepted by an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)
• Meet admissibility requirements related to health and security

How does Canada’s investor program work?

Once an applicant is approved into the IIVC Pilot Program, they must make the financial investment. Once approved in principle, the investment had to be made under the program’s terms and conditions to finalize the application and issue a Canada Investor Visa. Applicants were not required to invest the $2 million at the time of their application submission to IRCC.

Each $2 million investment was placed in the IIVC and was managed by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). It was an at-risk investment, which the Government of Canada or the BDC did not guarantee. The acquisition was committed for approximately 15 years, and the capital was distributed by up to five fund managers from the investment arm of BDC. These funds were invested in innovative Canadian companies outside of Quebec.

How Does the Venture Capital Immigration Program Work?

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) accepted up to 60 complete applications during the IIVC Pilot Program’s initial intake period. (An additional 60 applications were kept on a waiting list.) to be deemed complete, an application had to pass two stages of review.

The first review stage consisted of verifying whether or not the application was completed correctly. To be considered complete, an IIVC application must be filled out correctly and contain every required document. CIC contacted applicants considered for the second stage review with follow-up instructions, including submission of additional supporting documentation such as a due diligence report. A Canadian investor immigration due diligence report provided details about the past business or investment experience, source of funds, and personal net worth. These reports required applicants to meet the minimum net worth requirement of $10 million through legal investment and business activity. Applicants also had to pass medical, criminal, and security checks to obtain Canadian permanent residency.

Once the IIVC Pilot Program application was in processing, applicants expected notice within six months of the decision by IRCC to either accept the prospective immigrant or place them on the waiting list.

How Can We Assist You?

At ARNIKA VISA, we help business owners, entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, and investors find the most cost-effective programs that achieve their business and immigration goals. From filing a business proposal to guiding businesses during interviews/meetings with immigration officials, we take care of it all. We can assist you entirely or partially based on our different packages. We can advise you professionally regarding the required personalized supporting documents to increase the chance of your approval and, finally, submit your application to IRCC on your behalf as an authorized representative. Suppose you want to discover how the RCIC can help you. In that case, the first step is to complete the Assessment Form (To detail your personal, educational, and employment information) available on the site.

Important note: The intake of permanent selection applications for the Investor program is suspended temporarily until January 1, 2024.

What is the Quebec investor program?

The government of the province of Quebec gives permanent residency to individuals with business experience backgrounds willing to invest in Canada through the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP). This is intended to boost the Quebec economy and create jobs.

The QIIP remains the only opportunity for high-net-worth business immigrants wishing to secure permanent residence in Canada based on a passive investment.

What is the Quebec investor program eligibility?

Candidates must also have at least two years of qualified management business experience within the past five years. To prove this experience, applicants must have been involved in the planning, managing, and controlling of a business’s financial, human, or material resources. Relevant management experience in these businesses will qualify:

• Farming, commercial, or industrial business
• Professional company (if the company has a staff of at least two full-time employees other than the applicant)
• International agency
• Government, including its departments and agencies

Accepted applicants must invest C$1.2 million in a prescribed, government-guaranteed investment for five years, to have at least a C$2 million net worth, alone or with a spouse (The possibility of financing the investment by brokers and trust companies) acquired legally more than six months prior applying and intend to settle in the province of Quebec. After five years, the investor will be reimbursed for their loan within 30 days, without interest. Applicants who meet the criteria above will also be assessed according to factors such as Age, Education, Work experience, and Language proficiency (French).

How does the Quebec investor program work?

All the applications under QIIP are first required to apply to the Quebec immigration authorities. Once approved, the application must submit to IRCC (Canadian Immigration Authorities) for further processing at the federal level. The application processes are:

Step 1 – The Quebec Immigration Visa Office receives the application.

Step 2 – Application Assessment by Quebec Immigration Visa Officer.

Step 3 – Schedule a Personal Interview or waive it.

Step 4 – Make a wire transfer.

Step 5 – Submission of application to the Canadian Immigration Visa Office.

Step 6 – Medical Instructions

Step 7 – Passport Request and the Right of Permanent Residence Fee

This program has a yearly cap of 1900 applications. So, any new applications received after the maximum will be returned to the applicants. Selected Quebec Immigrant Investor Program candidates enjoy the same benefits as other Canadians. Therefore, they allow the experience of the free public health care system. Their children can also study in Canada and enroll in public elementary and secondary schools as Canadian residents for free.

What are the advantages of the Quebec Investor Program?

• A safe and guaranteed investment and program
• Secured by Quebec government bonds
• No requirement to create jobs in Canada
• No requirement to manage their own business in Canada.
• Investment Options: A candidate may pay a one-time financing fee of CAD 350,000 to a government-approved financial institution. While this fee is non-refundable, the financial institution will invest using its funds with the government on behalf of the candidate.

How Can We Assist You?

At ARNIKA VISA, we help business owners, entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, and investors find the most cost-effective programs that achieve their business and immigration goals. From filing a business proposal to guiding businesses during interviews/meetings with immigration officials, we take care of it all. We can assist you entirely or partially based on our different packages. We can advise you professionally regarding the required personalized supporting documents to increase the chance of your approval and, finally, submit your application to IRCC on your behalf as an authorized representative. Suppose you want to discover how the RCIC can help you. In that case, the first step is to complete the Assessment Form (To detail your personal, educational, and employment information) available on the site.