What is Canada’s immigrant investment program in 2022?

This Program Has Been Terminated Permanently. The goal of the Immigrant Investor Program is to draw in talented businesspeople who can contribute to Canada's development by making a sizable investment in its economy.

Investors who fulfill all standards for this Canadian immigration program may receive their permanent resident visas for themselves and their immediate family members (so long as they are not found inadmissible for medical or security reasons). For the Canada investment program, do contact Swis Immigration.

The Conditions

The following criteria must be met by investors in order to be eligible for this Canadian immigration investor program:

- The investor must not intend to reside in Quebec (if Quebec is your desired destination, see Quebec Investor Program);

- The investor must be able to show that they have the required business background. 

- It is possible to demonstrate this by managing a team of at least 5 workers or by having owned and maintained a qualifying firm. The investor also needs to have a minimum CAD net worth of $1,600,000. This money must have been obtained legally.

- The investor is required to invest $800,000 CAD with the Canadian government (which will be returned to the investor 5 years later, without interest).

- The investor (as well as family members) is not deemed to be inadmissible for reasons like security or health.

Amount Invested

The investor's $800,000 CAD investment will be handled by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. About five years and three months after the payment was made, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will repay the $800,000 investment without interest. 

The Canadian provinces, who are securing the investment, plan to utilize it to boost employment and the nation's economy.

The Method

The investment must typically be made by applicants 30 days after their application has been granted. The applicant (and his or her immediate family, if appropriate) may apply for their permanent resident visas after the application has been accepted and the investment has been made.

The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program was an initiative of the Canadian federal government started in 1986 to encourage businesspeople and their families to immigrate to Canada, giving qualifying investors the opportunity to become permanent residents.

Successful candidates received citizenship eligibility after receiving unconditional, permanent residence permits for Canada for themselves and their families. On June 19, 2014, the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act (Bill C-31) was passed, ending the program and any pending applications.

The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program (CIIP) was one of the most well-known and inexpensive IIPs in the world, yet it had remained unchanged since its beginning in terms of requirements. For a Canadian business investment visa, click here.

The program was briefly paused until the new standards took effect on June 26, 2010, and the qualification requirements were doubled as of that date. On December 1st, 2010, the newly upgraded program was reopened.

At the time of termination, qualified investors had to meet certain health and security requirements, have a minimum net worth of CAD$1,600,000 (obtained legally), invest CAD$800,000 alone or with their accompanying spouse, and have at least two years of expertise in business management. 

The Owner-Operator Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) method, which entails two stages, would currently be the closest substitute for the Canadian Immigrant Investor Program.

Just six applications have been submitted to Canada's pilot millionaire immigration program, which is a considerably smaller number than the immigrant investor class program, which the government axed last year on the grounds that it was not meeting its goals. 

The new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Pilot Program, which the federal government announced, intends to generate $120 million from 60 qualified ultra-high net worth investors.

The money is meant to finance high-growth potential start-up businesses in Canada. Ironically, the new initiative confirms informally that Canada has officially left the global residence-through-investment market that it co-founded with the Quebec government in 1986.

A minimum of $2 million must be invested into a government-approved venture capital fund for a minimum of 15 years under the new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Pilot program for approved applicants with a personal net worth of $10 million.

There is no guarantee that the money will be returned. In order to qualify, applicants must show that their net worth came through legitimate, for-profit management, commercial, or investment operations that produced capital or equity gains. Assets from the primary residential real estate are excluded, as well as inheritances.

Mandatory language tests and documentation of one year or more of post-secondary education in Canada, or its equivalent abroad, are additional criteria. A $50 million personal net worth threshold is required for applicants to be excused from the education assessment. 

During the current subscription period, which has been twice extended and closes on December 30, 2015, a maximum of 500 applications will be accepted. 

Up to 60 applicants would then be invited by the government to apply for Canadian permanent residence. There will be a nominal $1,050 processing fee for applicants.

A thorough due diligence report created by a designated service provider is also required to be submitted by chosen candidates in order to confirm that the source of money is derived from legal business or investment operations. The Federal Business Development Bank of Canada's investment arm, BDC Capital, and specially chosen government fund managers will manage the fund.

It has a questionable track record in the immigrant investment sector. After a 2-year moratorium on new applications, it canceled the previous Immigrant Investor Program in February 2014, canceling more than 15,000 incomplete applications—mostly from Chinese nationals—that were geared toward entry-level millionaires.

Many had been delaying their $800,000 investments for as long as 6 years. In order to comply with the new program standards, it will take much longer than the limited solicitation period to conduct the required language testing, evaluate educational equivalence, and secure thorough financial evidence.

Canada would not even be a consideration for the vast majority of the ultra-high net worth persons in the globe because of the imposition of obligatory language testing, the only immigrant investor program in the world to do so.

Considering this alone, Canada's new policy has no place in the business it has dominated for almost 30 years—residence by investment.

The UK, Malta, and Australia are the top nations with ultra-high net worth Canada permanent residence programs. Each provides far more favorable terms and circumstances, such as much shorter investment durations, significantly lower net worth requirements, open-ended subscription periods, and no language ability requirements.

In contrast, the UK demands an investment of $4 million CAD over a five-year period, which may include bonds issued by the government that provides interest to the investor. The USA offers its EB-5 conditional resident visa, which requires an investment of US $1 million or more, and has since replaced Canada as the industry's dominant player.

The business of attracting immigrant investors has proven to be quite successful, delivering billions of cash to governments, including Canada, for infrastructure projects. China and the Middle East predominated in the mid-level investor market, which was mostly held by Canada.

The province of Quebec is still effectively promoting its own $800,000 immigrant investor program, which will reopen to 1750 applications on August 31, 2015. Each candidate is required to pay a $15,000 processing fee. The annual immigration program of the Quebec government will be mostly funded by these fees alone.

With the right legislation, a centralized processing center, and a revamped passive immigrant investor program at $2 million, Canada could easily subscribe, efficiently process 1,000 applications each year, and levy a subscription fee of $25,000 per applicant.

The government ignores the substantial indirect economic "consumption" benefits, which independent studies have estimated to be worth $700,000 per family over a 5-year period in addition to the obvious enormous direct monetary benefits.

The most significant consequence of a smart immigration strategy is that, in many cases, the offspring of immigrant investors will offer crucial connections to the global business world.

Currently, there are more than 25 international citizenship and residency-based investment programs. In the upcoming years, the industry will see tremendous expansion. 

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