Key Advantages

The Immigrant Investors Program was created by the Canadian government to attract wealthy business persons and their capital to Canada. Investors and their immediate family can gain permanent residency in Canada by satisfying the following four government selection criteria:

1) You must demonstrate proper business experience, as defined under the Regulations. In essence, you must have previously managed or operated a qualified business for at least two out of five years preceding your application

2)You and your spouse must have legally obtained a personal net worth exceeding CAD $1.6 million

3)The entire family must complete and pass Canada’s medical and security evaluations

4)You must invest CAD $800,000 for a period of five years at no interest (0%) under the one of the two available Immigrant Investor Programs. The investment is government-guaranteed and will be repaid in full at the end of the investment period

There are currently two Immigrant Investor Programs available in the market, namely:

• The Federal Immigrant Investor Program, and
• The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program

The Federal Immigrant Investor Program is currently closed following an annual application cap that was introduced through ministerial instructions and which was filled shortly after July 1, 2011. The annual application cap will reset on July 1, 2012, unless otherwise indicated in a future ministerial instruction. The cap does not apply to the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program. That means the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program currently remains open to receive new applications.

The selection procedure is similar under both the Federal and Quebec programs, with the following distinction: in Quebec, the investor first has to obtain a Certificate of Selection of Quebec before applying for health and security screening at the federal level to be admitted to Canada. Once legally admitted to Canada, applicants who receive a Certificate of Selection of Quebec do not have to establish residency in Quebec because they – as all Canadian residents – have total liberty of movement and establishment in any of 10 Canadian provinces and three territories.

Winston Hawthorne & Co. offers a comprehensive service designed to assist you and your family in immigrating to Canada under the Immigrant Investor Program. Our team brings together experts in the field of immigration law, tax, financial and banking services to make your transition to Canada as smooth as possible.

For more information on our comprehensive service under the Immigrant Investor Program, please contact us today.