buy your way into Canada

In February this year, the two investment programmes that existed were scrapped by the Canadian government, along with the backlog of thousands of applications. What had been the gateway to Canadian citizenship for the high net-worth-individuals for many years was suddenly a closed door.

However, it seems that the door will not remain shut, as several options have already been discussed. Most concrete were recent statements made by Chris Alexander, Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, to the Chinese media about the details of a new investment pilot scheme, which is set to be launched by the year-end.

According to news sources, the new programme would take the shape of a venture capital pilot, with a minimum investment amount that is more than twice as much as the previous amount, which was CAD800,000.

The investment would involve a privately managed at-risk venture capitalist investment, with a strong focus on start-up businesses, whereas the original programme offered a risk-free investment; the funds were eventually returned in full, interest free. The financing option that existed would no longer be part of the new pilot.

Further, the period of investment would probably exceed the previous investment period, which was a five-year period. However, language and residency requirements would most likely not be terribly stringent.

When the Immigrant Investment Programme (FIIP) and the Entrepreneur Programme were cancelled three months ago, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) explained that in order to move forward with programmes that would more accurately capture the types of investors needed in Canada, CIC would instead eliminate the files currently in the backlog.