Investment / Entrepreneurial Immigration

In recent years, the immigration policy about investor program in Canada has been changing dramatically. The investment category has limited quota each year.
The only true investment category right now is the federal start-up visa program and the Quebec Investor program. Most province only has entrepreneur program and the applicants have to meet minimum score on the EOI screening systems. It can be said that the initiative is now fully in the hands of the government.
However, immigration in all countries follows the government's policies, and we can help our clients make a better plan if we know the history and trends of each program.

Manitoba Entrepreneur Immigration MPNP

Business Investor Stream

The Business Investor Stream is aimed at qualified international business investors and entrepreneurs. Candidates are initially issued with a temporary work permit, and must have the intent and ability to start or purchase a business in Manitoba within two years of arrival.
The stream abolishes a previous requirement for a $100,000 deposit with the Manitoba government. There are pathways for entrepreneurs and for farm investors.

a) Entrepreneur Pathway

For applicants wanting to open a business in Manitoba. Candidates are initially issued with a temporary work permit. They are nominated for permanent residence after establishing a business meeting the conditions of a Business Performance Agreement.
Priority is given to candidates starting businesses outside Winnipeg.

Entrepreneur Pathway Requirements

Business Experience	Minimum of three years of full-time work experience in the past five years either as an active business owner or working in a senior management role of a successful business. Business owners are given higher points in comparison to senior managers. Business owners must have at least 33 1/3% ownership to qualify for points.
Official Languages Proficiency	Minimum CLB/NCLC 5
Education	Minimum Canadian high school certificate equivalent
Age	No minimum or maximum age; however, ranking points are allocated to candidates 25 to 49 years of age.
Business Investment	Minimum investment is $250,000 for businesses situated in the Manitoba Capital Region. Minimum investment is $150,000 if a business is situated outside of the Manitoba Capital Region. Business Investment must be made in an eligible business as defined by the MPNP. The proposed business must create or maintain at least one job for a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Manitoba (excluding owners of the business and/or their close relatives).
Business Research Visit	A Business Plan is required and is an integral part of the application. A business research visit allows the applicant to conduct extensive research of their future business investment or proposal. The Business Research Visit must be conducted no more than one year prior to the submission of your EOI.
Adaptability	Points will be allocated to you if: Your spouse has CLB/NCLC 5 or higher; You or your spouse have CLB/NCLC 5 or higher in the second official language; You or your spouse or common-law partner have a close relative currently residing in Manitoba for more than one year; Your child is enrolled in an accredited Manitoba educational institution and is actively pursuing academic, professional or vocational training on a full-time basis for at least six months prior to the date of submission of EOI AND/OR You or your accompanying spouse or common-law partner have completed a program of full-time study for at least one year at a post-secondary institution in Manitoba. You or your accompanying spouse or common-law partner must have done this after you turned 17 years old and with a valid study permit; You or your accompanying spouse or common-law partner have completed at least six months of continuous full-time employment in Manitoba. A letter of reference from the employer and a copy of the work permit must be provided.
Net Worth	Minimum of $500,000 Your personal net worth will be verified by a third-party supplier approved by the MPNP. A verification report, along with the application, must be submitted to the MPNP within 120 days of receiving your letter of advice to apply.
Business Performance Agreement	a Business Performance Agreement must be signed prior to the MPNP issuing you a letter of support for applying for a work permit.

b) Farm Investor Pathway

For applicants wanting to open and operate a farm in rural Manitoba. Candidates are initially issued with a temporary work permit. They are nominated for permanent residence after establishing a business meeting the conditions of a Business Performance Agreement.

Farm Investor Pathway Requirements

Farm Business Experience	Minimum of three years farm ownership and operation experience supported by verifiable documents.
Official Languages Proficiency	The Farm Investor Pathway recognizes language capabilities in either of Canada’s two official languages are an important adaptability skill that will accelerate your ability to become economically established in rural Manitoba. If you are invited to attend an interview, you will be required to conduct the interview in either French or English.
Education	Minimum Canadian high school certificate equivalent
Age	No minimum or maximum age; however, ranking points are allocated to candidates 25 to 49 years of age.
Farm Business Investment	At least $300,000. You are expected to establish a farming business in rural Manitoba. Farm business investments must be in eligible tangible assets as defined by the MPNP. A farm business plan is required and is an integral part of the application. Investments into a farm business operated primarily for the purposes of deriving passive investment income or speculative purposes are not eligible.
Farm Business Research Visit	You must conduct a Farm Business Research Visit to Manitoba.
Farm Business Activities	A farm business entity should have ongoing and recurring business activities in rural Manitoba. You are required to live on the farm and actively participate in the management of the farm business on an ongoing basis from within Manitoba. The farm business must be in active primary agriculture production and economically viable. The MPNP requires you to conduct value-added farm business activities in Manitoba. Purely speculative activities or the use of third-party farm managers are not eligible under the MPNP.
Economic Establishment Adaptability	You must demonstrate adaptability, specifically relating to practical farming skills, technical knowledge and experience in technological based farming practices that will transfer directly to Manitoba’s current primary farm production industry
Net Worth	At least $500,000 The MPNP may request for verification of your net worth and financial information by a designated third-party service provider. If requested, the verification report, along with your application, must be submitted to the MPNP within 120 days of receiving your Invitation to Apply.

If you are interested in this program, you should contact Springwind Immigration for initial consultation.

Nova Scotia Entrepreneur Immigration Program

Similarly, Nova Scotia Entrepreneur program requires applicants to start a business after obtaining a work permit. And they can apply for permanent residence after business operates for one year.
The whole family can enjoy local free medical and public education, which is a very good choice for customers who wish to arrange their children to study as soon as possible or need to quickly land in Canada. The whole journey is about 0.5-2 years.

ELIGIBILITY

To apply you must:

• be 21 years of age or older;
• want to live permanently in Nova Scotia while owning and actively managing a Nova Scotia business;
• have a score of at least 5 on the Canadian Language Benchmark in speaking, listening, reading and writing in English or French;
• have a net worth of at least $600,000 CAD;
• be able to invest at least $150,000 CAD of your own money to establish a business in Nova Scotia;
• have at least 3 years’ experience actively managing and owning a business (1/3 ownership minimum) OR more than 5 years’ experience in a senior business management role;
• complete an online Expression of Interest;
• receive an Invitation to Apply from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration

Saskatchewan Entrepreneur Immigration(SINP)

This is the only entrepreneur program that does not have English requirement.
If you would like to move to Saskatchewan to own and operate a business, find out how you can immigrate as an entrepreneur.
To be considered for nomination by the province of Saskatchewan, you must:

SINP Requirements

• Play an active role in managing the business
• Be able to prove your net worth is more than $500,000 and was attained by legal means
• Have at least 3 years of business ownership or management experience
• Prove that you intend to reside and invest a minimum of $200,000 in Saskatchewan ($300,000 in the cities of Regina and Saskatoon)

Note the following important information, before you submit your EOI:

• To submit an EOI to the SINP, you must:
  • Meet the minimum entry criteria; and
  • Complete the Points Assessment Grid in order to be scored once your EOI is in the pool of candidates.
• To meet the minimum entry criteria you must:
  • Have $500,000 (CAD) at minimum in Net Business and Personal Assets;
  • Have a minimum of three years of relevant business management or entrepreneurial experience gained in the past ten years; and,
  • Intend to invest a minimum of $300,000 (CAD) in Regina and Saskatoon or a minimum of $200,000 (CAD) in all other Saskatchewan communities.
• We'll assess the information you provide in your EOI against the points grid to rank your EOI in the pool of candidates.
  Candidates are then selected from the EOI system based on their score, with top scoring EOIs being prioritized for selection.
  Selected candidates are invited to apply to the SINP.
• If you are invited to apply you must submit a Business Establishment Plan (BEP) that corresponds to the information in your EOI. Your BEP must include:
  • Your plan to establish a business that aligns with the points assigned in the Entrepreneur Category Points Grid, if applicable (for investment amount and sector);
  • Your ownership of at least one third (33 1/3 per cent) of the equity of a business in Saskatchewan, unless your total investment is $1 million CAD or higher;
  • Your commitment to provide active and on-going participation in the day-to-day management and direction of the business; and
  • The creation of two employment opportunities in Saskatchewan for Canadians or permanent residents who are not related to you.
    • This only applies if you're establishing a new business in Regina or Saskatoon.

Please note that the SINP reserves the right to have Business Establishment Plans assessed by professional third parties identified by the Government of Saskatchewan. The assessment conducted by Third Parties will focus on the preparation and due diligence conducted by the applicant in preparing their proposed business plan.

Process for Entrepreneur Program Application

1. Submit EOI
   • If the applicant satisfies the minimum requirement, estimate EOI score and complete the form, then submits the EOI to the relevant provincial government;
   • To complete the EOI online, the information provided by the applicant must be true and accurate. If fraudulent or misleading information is found, the application will be rejected and the applicant can’t apply again within two years;
   • There is no cost to submit an EOI, and no documents need to be attached to it. All applicants entering the candidate pool will be ranked according to the score;
   • Applicants can only stay in the candidate pool for 12 months. The EOI information can be updated during the waiting period. Once the EOI is selected, the candidate pool will be removed. At this time, the information cannot be updated. If it has not been selected, the EOI can be resubmitted after the month;
   • The score for age is based on the age at which the EOI was submitted.
2. After EOI is selected
   • The applicant will receive an invitation letter (ISA) with a file number;
   • Within 20 days of receiving the invitation letter, pay the non-refundable application processing fee of 2,500 Canadian dollars;
   • Select and identify an accredited third-party financial review service in the online application, and submit the relevant documents and the file number to the organization;
   • Within 90 days of receiving the invitation letter (ISA), submit a complete online application, including all required supporting materials and business plans;
   • Submit a third-party agency verification report within 180 days of receiving the invitation letter (ISA);
   • All materials provided must be in English or French, and other language materials need to be submitted in electronic and original translations, as well as the affidavit of the translator.
3. SINP application processing
   • Once all the application materials have been submitted, SINP will verify all information;
   • During this period, the business immigration officer may contact the applicant to request more information or call the applicant for an interview;
   • If the applicant's conditions are basically in line with the criteria for entrepreneurial immigration, the final interview will be notified.The interview may be in the form of an on-site interview or through a web video, so the applicant must ensure that the equipment and equipment required for the online video conversation are available;
   • Upon completion of the interview, the applicant is required to review and sign a Business Performance Agreement (BPA), which is a legal agreement between the applicant and the Saskatchewan government;
   • The applicant must submit a scanned copy of the signature and date to the SINP within 30 days of receipt of the Corporate Performance Agreement;
   • Upon receipt of the BPA, the SINP will issue a SINP Entrepreneurship Letter to the applicant. The letter of approval contains instructions on how to apply for a Temporary Work Permit (TWP) from the IRCC and a temporary work permit support letter that the applicant must receive.
     Within three months of the approval letter, apply to the IRCC for a temporary work permit. Applicants with TWP can establish and operate a business in Saskatchewan.
4. Landing in Saskatchewan
   • After the applicant obtains the temporary work permit, he or she can land in Saskatchewan to establish a business;
   • Within 180 days of receiving the SINP Entrepreneurship Letter, the applicant must go to Saskatchewan to attend the meeting, otherwise it will be considered as failing to fulfill the BPA terms and the application will be closed;
   • Applicants must meet with the designated business service provider within 90 days of their arrival in Canada. The Corporate Service Provider will provide the applicant with various services for the business in Saskatchewan. The contact information will be sent to the applicant in the BPA;
   • Submit an arrival report form and a list of other materials provided;
   • Submit a business creation progress report to the SINP Entrepreneur Immigration Department within 12 months after landing;
   • The SINP recommends that applicants start business within six months of arriving in Saskatchewan and must be operating for at least six months if they are eligible for provincial nomination.
5. Apply for provincial nomination
   • After performing BPA and operating the company in Saskatchewan for six months, the applicant can submit a provincial nomination application to SINP;
   • Use the SINP online system to submit a provincial nomination application. After approval, SINP will send a nomination certificate to the IRCC and send a nomination letter to the applicant. The nomination letter will inform the applicant how to submit a permanent resident application to the IRCC Central Office (CIO).
6. Apply for a permanent resident visa
   • Upon receipt of the nomination certificate issued by SINP, the IRCC will process the applicant's application and review whether the applicant is eligible. After the approval, the IRCC will issue a permanent residence visa to the applicant and his/her family.

Note: Apply for Temporary Work Permit (TWP):

• First, as a self-employed employer, register as an employer at IRCC's Employer Portal, paying employer compliance fee of $230, without paying LMIA fees. If the applicant does not have a Canadian tax number, send an email to CIC.EmployerPortal-Portaildelemployeur.CIC@cic. Gc.ca for help;
• Go to the employer website welcome page, click on "What would you like to do today?", select Access the offer of employment queue;
• In the Your online offer of employment section, personal information is entered. In the Details of Intended Work in Canada section, the applicant has obtained the LMIA exemption, and as the type of work permit, the entrepreneur's LMIA exemption code is C11, and a work permit application is submitted to the IRCC.

Quebec Investor Immigration

Quebec investment immigrants are very popular among Canadian investor immigrants. This is mainly because it has a relatively low threshold and a high success rate.

Québec investment immigrants have special requirements for Chinese applicants and have separately issued a list of materials. There are a few points to note:

1. Need to issue a credit card bill for nearly 3 months;
2. Need to issue a personal credit report (there will be previous bank card account opening information, loan information);
3. Need to issue social security records, personal income tax certificate (many private owners do not have this);
4. Need to issue a corporate credit report (the corporate credit report records the previous year's income tax & net profit);
5. There are clear and strict requirements for the audit report, and all the rules and regulations need to be met.

Applicant Requirment

1. At least 18 years of age and 2 million Canadian dollars in net assets (donated donations received within six months are not counted);
2. Within 5 years prior to the application, have at least 2 years of management experience in managing a qualified enterprise or managing more than five full-time employees; management experience may be in the agricultural, commercial, and industrial fields or in a company specializing in legal services; senior management experience in international institutions, government departments or government branches is also applicable;
3. Investors need to sign an investment agreement with the Quebec Investment Project Authorized Broker or the Trustee Company (the fund company) to directly invest 1.2 million Canadian dollars to the Quebec government for five years for free use, and the principal will be returned to the applicant after five years, or a one-time payment of 350,000 Canadian dollars (not returned).

Application Procedures

1. Submit an application to Québec;
2. The Immigration Department issues an interview notice;
3. The Immigration Department issued a letter of acceptance;
4. Pay 1.2 million or 350,000 Canadian dollars for the investment after the interview;
5. The documents are submitted to the Federal Immigration Service for a permanent resident visa.

Application fee

1. Quebec Immigration Fee
   Application fee: The application fee will be adjusted from August 2013, and will not be charged according to the head, but will be charged according to the application;
   • The 2018 application fee is $15,235;
   • Investment: $1.2 million per application (full payment, no interest after 5 years) or $350,000 (loan, no refund).
2. Federal Immigration costs
   • Application fee: $1,050 for the main applicant and $550 for the spouse;
   • Landing fee: only the main applicant and spouse pay, 490 Canadian dollars / person;
   • Medical examination fee: RMB 1,450 for the main applicant and spouse; children vary by age;
   • Other expenses: notary fees, audit fees, asset evaluation fees, translation fees, etc.
3. Immigration consultant fee

Springwind immigration is very experienced in all the above investor/entrepreneur immigration programs. We have successful cases for reference! Welcome you to contact us for initial consulation.