Business Class

Immigration for Investors and Entrepreneurs

Alert: legislative changes to the Investor Class are currently underway. The investment thresholds under the Investor Class have been updated from $400,000 to $800,000 and the applicant’s net worth from $800,000 to $1.6 million. The changes will only come into force upon a final regulatory amendment to be passed later this year. In the meanwhile, no new Federal Investor applications will be accepted for processing until the regulatory changes have been passed into law.

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High net worth individuals who would like to immigrate to Canada can apply for permanent residence as Investors or Entrepreneurs. The business class category requires individuals to demonstrate that they possess a net worth of $800,000 Canadian dollars.

The investor category is suitable for individuals who would like to contribute to the Canadian economy without having to commit to owning and running a new business in Canada. In order to qualify as an investor, an applicant must demonstrate that in addition to having a net worth of $800,000, they have relevant business experience in a qualifying business and are willing to invest $400,000 to a designated provincial or territorial fund, which is redeemable in approximately five years, without interest. Relevant business experience is defined as the management of a qualifying business and the control of a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least two years of the preceding five years or the management of at least five full-time job equivalents per year in a business for at least two years of the preceding five years. A full-time job equivalent means 1,950 hours of paid employment. A qualifying business is defined as a business for which in any two years of the preceding five years, it is proven that the business meets any two of the following requirements: 

(a) 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; 
(b) that the percentage of equity multiplied by the total annual sales is equal to or greater than CDN $500,000; 
(c) that the percentage of equity multiplied by the net income in the year is equal to or greater than CDN $50,000; 
(d) that the percentage of equity multiplied by the net assets at the end of the year is equal to or greater than CDN $125,000.

The entrepreneur category is open to individuals who are active in business and intend to manage a qualifying business for which they have a controlling interest. In order to qualify as an entrepreneur, an applicant must have a net worth of at least $300,000 and have owned a qualifying business for at least two years of the preceding five years. The applicant must also provide a written statement that upon their arrival in Canada they intend to own and manage a business and create at least one full-time job for Canadian citizens or permanent resident (excluding relatives). These conditions have to be met for a period of one year within three years after the entrepreneur becomes a permanent resident.

In today's processing environment, the entrepreneur category is no longer favoured by the majority of immigration lawyers given the long processing times and conditional nature of the permanent resident visa. Although the investor category continues to be a viable immigration stream, it is likely that in the near future the minimum net worth amount (currently $800,000) and investment amount (currently $400,000) will rise substantially. Accordingly, when devising a business immigration strategy, careful consideration must also be given to the various Provincial Nominee programs currently in place.