Helping You Transform Business Opportunities into Business Ventures
Business people seeking permanent resident status in Canada can take advantage of a wide range of options.
Canada’s federal government offers investor and entrepreneur programs to attract business people committed to investing in Canada.
Prospective investor applicants must have a net worth of $1.6 million dollars and be willing to invest $800,000 in their business. They must also be able to demonstrate they have two years of business experience—as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada—and how they acquired their wealth.
The federal government’s entrepreneur program requires a $300,000 investment and results in conditional immigrant status. Permanent resident status can be obtained once there is proof that the terms and conditions of the business venture have been satisfied.
The entrepreneur category is designed for prospective immigrants who intend to own and operate a business in Canada that will create employment for at least one Canadian citizen or permanent resident, other than members of the immigrant’s immediate family. The entrepreneur must be actively involved in the management of the business.
Under the entrepreneur class, business people are granted a conditional immigrant visa—allowing them to immigrate to Canada on the condition they fulfill a business plan that meets the criteria of the entrepreneur category.
The entrepreneur’s business activities are monitored by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Within three years of arriving in Canada, entrepreneurs must prove they have met the terms and conditions under which they were granted their entrepreneur status.
If Citizenship and Immigration Canada determines the entrepreneur has not met the terms of his or her admission to Canada, it may revoke the entrepreneur’s immigrant visa. This can affect not only the entrepreneur, but his or her family members, as well. While such a decision may be appealed, applicants under this class should carefully consider the conditional nature of the entrepreneur immigrant visa before applying.
Canada also offers a program for the self-employed, including farmers, athletes, artists and people who can enhance Canadian culture. This category is open to the comparatively small number of potential immigrants who can demonstrate they have the intention and ability to become self-employed in Canada. Applications under this category must demonstrate they have at least two years of relevant experience to make a significant contribution to Canada’s cultural or athletic life, or experience in farm management and the intention and ability to purchase and manage a farm in Canada.
Occupational categories in the cultural and athletic fields that may be considered under the self-employed class of immigrants may be found at:
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Note that the federal self-employed category is distinct from the Quebec self-employed program.
The process of applying under the federal government’s business classes can be long and resource-intensive. Recent changes to the Federal Investor Program do not affect provincial investor programs such as the Opportunities Ontario Investor Category, the Quebec Investor Class or any of the provincial nomination programs that select immigrants based on investments in individual provinces.
An application under Canada’s Federal Investor Program can take several years. The Government of Canada is always concerned about the applicant’s source of funds and the authenticity of business documents filed in support of the investor’s application.
The most expeditious way to seek permanent resident status as a business person is to meet the investor or business immigrant criteria of the various provincial nomination programs available throughout Canada.
In Ontario, an investor who is prepared to invest $3 million dollars and create five permanent, full-time jobs in Ontario may qualify as an investor immigrant under the Opportunities Ontario Program. Investors can nominate up to 25 prospective immigrants if their investment will generate even more jobs in Ontario.
Provincial nominee programs offer business immigrants flexibility and support for new business ventures. While provincial investor applicants must meet federal criteria for business immigrants, they are offered priority processing— allowing them to seize Canadian investment opportunities as they occur.
Capelle Kane has helped investors and entrepreneurs realize their business plans by applying through the provincial nomination programs.
Provincial nominee applications offer attractive options to prospective immigrants. While federal government programs are imposing limits on the number of highly skilled workers who can apply for permanent resident visas each year, provincial nomination programs are expanding to attract immigrants who can meet provincial labour market and business investment needs.
Many provincial nominee programs offer permanent resident status to workers in the low-skilled or semi-skilled occupational categories—opening opportunities to prospective immigrants who would not qualify for permanent resident status under federal immigration programs designed for skilled professionals and managerial-level applicants.
Provincial nomination programs seek to attract immigrants who have ties to family or employment in the province of destination to ensure provincial nominees remain in that province.
Provincial nomination programs offer prospective immigrants and employers a range of options to secure permanent resident status in Canada. One of their key advantages—applications are fast-tracked and accorded priority at visa offices around the world.
In addition to offering faster processing times, provincial nominee programs can allow prospective immigrants an opportunity for early admission to Canada—by obtaining an interim work permit while their application for an immigrant visa is being processed.
As well, most applicants under provincial nomination programs are not required to undergo rigorous language testing to prove their language skills—something that is now required under most federal immigration programs.
Not having to prepare and sit for a language test is an important advantage for immigrants and employers seeking the fastest route to permanent resident status in Canada. This is especially advantageous for prospective immigrants whose mother tongue is either English or French, or who have studied or worked in one or both of Canada’s official languages.
Capelle Kane has a wealth of experience in helping immigrants and Canadian employers achieve their objectives by working with the various provincial nomination programs.
Check out what Canada’s provinces and territories have to offer by visiting their individual websites.
Immigration Canada
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
Northwest Territories
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon