Investors Category

investors

The Investors category is suitable to individuals who wish to immigrate to Canada with no intention to engage in any type of business or employment activity after their arrival, such as;

• an applicant who wishes to live in Canada after their retirement or
• an applicant who wants to make their spouse and children move to Canada for the purpose of their children’s education in Canada, while the applicant continues operating their business outside of Canada

 

There are 2 types of investor programs, that is, Federal Investor Program and Quebec Investor Program. To qualify, you must meet financial requirements and have experience as a manager or a business owner, as regulated by each program.

• Federal Investor Program This program is for those who intend to live in any part of Canada other than Quebec. The full amount of the investment (without interest) is repaid to the investor after five years.
• Quebec Investor Program If you intend to immigrate under this program, you must land on Quebec and validate your permanent residency, but it is possible for you to move to other provinces later on. The full amount of the investment (without interest) is repaid to the investor after five years.

Requirements of applicants under Investors Category

Accompanying family members

Applicants under business worker class can accompany the following family members;

• Spouse
• Common-law partner (a person who is cohabiting in a conjugal relationship as an opposite or same-sex partner for at least one year)
• Dependent children of the principal applicant or of their spouse or common-law partner, and who is
  1. less than 22 years of age and unmarried or
  2. 22 years of age or over or married, but financially dependent and is
     • continuously in school on a full-time basis since before the age of 22 or
     • physically or mentally disabled

 

There are no conditions attached to the permanent resident visas of investor immigrants and their family members, unlike with Entrepreneurs Category, where, if the entrepreneur immigrant fails to establish and be actively involved in a qualifying Canadian business within two years of immigrating, the permanent resident visas of the entrepreneur and all his/her family members will be forfeited. In Investors Category, neither the investor nor their family members risk losing their permanent resident status owing to the inaction of the investor immigrant, because everyone’s permanent resident visa is independent each other after having immigrated.

Net-worth of Cdn$1,600,000

Net-worth results from subtracting all financial liabilities from the total assets of the applicant and his/her spouse or common-law partner. All legally obtained assets may be included, such as inheritance or gifts as well as one earned by their own endeavors.(However, in Quebec Investor Program, it shall exclude the amounts received by donation less than six months before the date on which the application was filed)

Experience in a Qualifying Business(Federal Investor Program)

There are three methods for meeting this requirement:

1. Managing at least five full-time employees for at least two years of the preceding five years
2. Managing and having ownership for two of the preceding five years in a business which meets at least two of the following four criteria; (A business operated primarily for the purpose of deriving investment income such as interest, dividends or capital gains is excluded.)(Case) 100% ownership of business two full-time employees,
   annual revenue of Cdn$500,000,
   annual net income of Cdn$50,000, OR
   net assets at the end of the year: Cdn$125,000These requirements relate to the applicant’s percentage of ownership. If the applicant and the spouse/common-law partner own 50% of the company, the company must have four full-time employees and annual revenue of Cdn$1.0 million, etc. The applicants owing more than one business may combine their assets and revenue in order to prove that they possess a qualifying business.
3. Combination of above (1) and (2)

Experience in a Qualifying Business (Quebec Investor Program)

You must have experience in management in a legal 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; Management experience is defined as the exercise, for at least two years in the five years preceding the application for a selection certificate, of duties related to the planning, management and control of financial resources and of human or material resources under your authority; the experience does not include experience acquired in the context of an apprenticeship, training or specialization process attested to by a diploma.

 

Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants are permitted to count their management career established while they were engaged in those professions, which means the management itself does not necessarily have to be full-time experience in these cases.

Selection Criteria for Federal Investor Program

In addition, to meet the investor criteria, investor applicants must also be awarded at least thirty-five (35) points out of the following selection criteria;

1. Education (Maximum 25 Points)
2. Official Languages (Maximum 24 Points)
3. Work experience (Maximum 35 Points)
4. Age (Maximum 10 Points)
5. Adaptability (Maximum 6 Points)