Culture

All about Canadian culture, from people and language to food, drink, books, music, and film

Daily Life

From health care and education, to local eating and shopping, to festivals and things to do, get the scoop on life in Canada

Housing, Jobs, & Money

Finding a home, working, saving, and investing in Canada – here’s how

Immigration

What you need to know to live in, work in, or immigrate to Canada. Citizenship information, too.

Travel

Travel ideas and tips for visiting, touring, and deciding where to live in Canada.

Home » Immigration

Immigrating by investing in Canada

Submitted by on December 15, 2010 – 4:54 pmOne Comment

Can you buy your way into Canada?

Citizenship and Immigration Canada may not put it exactly this way, but the federal Immigrant Investor Program, which was reopened to prospective immigrants this month, is essentially a fast(er) track to Canadian permanent resident status if you don’t have a Canadian job lined up.

It just takes money.

To apply for permanent resident status as an Immigrant Investor in Canada, you now have to have a net worth of at least CAD$1.6 million AND be willing to make an investment of CAD$800,000.

You’re basically making a no-interest loan of $800,000 to the Canadian government for five years.

Of course, you have to have business experience as well as money — either by owning (or part-owning) a business for at least two years or by managing at least five full-time employees for a similar period.

And you still have to have at least 35 points (out of a possible 100) from the immigrant investor selection criteria, which include:

Under the previous Immigrant Investor program, you needed to have a minimum net worth of CAD$800,000 and make an investment of CAD $400,000.

However, the program became so backlogged with applications that the government has doubled the financial requirements, effective December 2010.

The processing times for investor applications are still quite lengthy — about two years for applicants from Taiwan, the UK, and South Korea; roughly three years for applicants from the US, Germany, Hong Kong, and China; and even longer times for applicants from other parts of the world.

Still, if you’ve got the money, it offers a way to open the door to your new home in Canada.

**********

Did you qualify for Canadian permanent resident status under the Investor program? Or do you have advice for others hoping to follow that route?

Please leave a comment and let us know.

Permanent Resident Card photo ©Alan Albert

One Comment »

  • Jay B. says:

    Yes, the criteria are quite right. I applied for Canadian permanent resident status a while ago and it went exactly as written. I was lucky I made a trip to Canada year before and I could disguise it as business exploration trip – that nailed it!