Quebec Re-Launches Immigrant Investor Program

Immigration authorities in the Province of Quebec announced they will begin to accept new applications under its highly successful Quebec Immigrant Investor Program for a limited period starting August 31st 2015 until January 31st 2016.

This comes as welcome news for high net worth individuals looking for an attractive passive investment scheme offering Canadian permanent residence. With the recent closure of the Federal Immigrant Investor program, the Quebec program is the only program of its kind in Canada.

Under the new subscription period, Quebec will accept a maximum of 1750 applications during the subscription period including a maximum of 1200 from China, Hong Kong and Macao. Interested applicants are accordingly encouraged to act early to increase their chances of having their application selected for processing.

The application quotas and the limited period of reception do not apply to applicants to the investor category who can demonstrate an intermediate to advanced level of French language proficiency through an approved standardized language test. Applicants who can meet this requirement may submit an application anytime during the period beginning April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016.

To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate the following:

  • A legitimately acquired personal net worth of at least 1.6 million Canadian Dollars;
  • At least two years of senior managerial experience within the past five years in a private enterprise, eligible partnership, government body or NGO;
  • Commit to making an interest free investment of CAD $800,000.00 in a prescribed (government guaranteed) investment for a period of five years;
  • An intention to settle in the province of Quebec;
  • A application processing fee of C$15,000.

The application process proceeds under one-step with a tempered list of documentation from previously. Applications must be fully documented at the time of submission. Quebec policy now provides for the refusal of applications that are incomplete or otherwise inconsistent with the requirements, without requests for outstanding documentation or incomplete information.

Interested readers are invited to complete our Free Online Evaluation to determine whether they qualify for immigration to Canada as an Immigrant Investor. Our immigration professionals will provide evaluation results within two business days.

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Canada Immigration Summer Options: Quebec “Rules”

Canada’s immigration policies have undergone major changes at the federal level. Immigrating to Canada under federal programs has become more difficult and unpredictable by any measure.  Yet Quebec continues to offer professionals a pathway to Canada under the province’s popular immigration programs which will account for 55,000 newcomers this year, representing 20% of Canada’s annual intake.

Immigration in Canada is shared between the federal government and each of the provinces and territories. Quebec enjoys comprehensive rights in this area that are unparalleled in Canada.  Once the province approves an application, the federal jurisdiction is confined to medical and security related issues.

Quebec features two popular quota-based programmes: the Quebec Skilled Workers Programme (QSWP) and the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme (QIIP). The QIIP will begin accepting up to 1750 applications for 5-months beginning on August 31, 2015.  The Quebec government has not specified its QSWP launch date but confirms it will take place anytime before October 1, 2015.  The QSWP will accept 6300 applications.

The QSWP is point based and somewhat comparable to the Federal Skilled Worker Programme. However, despite being a French speaking province, the program features more lenient criteria and a predictable process. As many occupations do not require advanced French language skills, Quebec is a popular option for many intending immigrants to Canada who can submit an application before annual quotas are reached.

The most recent application cycle started on April 1, 2014, and the application cap of 6,500 was filled within four months. 

Under the new application cycle set to open shortly, there are a number of new amendments that are favourable to many candidates. The ‘areas of training’ list, a modified version of an Occupational Demand List, has been expanded for this year’s cycle. Quebec assesses candidates’ education and “areas of training”, as an additional measure of employability in the province.

Under the new Areas of Training list, candidates with a degree in fields such as computer science, engineering, finance and health care will be awarded higher points than previously.

Under the Quebec point-based system, considerable weighting is placed on French (and English) language skills where an applicant can receive a maximum of 22 points for language.  However applicants with high scores in areas of training and other attributes can easily overcome a weakness in French language ability and still qualify under the Quebec skilled worker program.

“Quebec is targeting candidates with education and training in IT, Engineering, Finance and Health Care.  It is even prepared to admit candidates who do not have strong French competencies.  This places the Province in an ideal position to attract many highly skilled workers”, says Attorney Colin Singer, Managing Partner of immigration.ca.

Under its business immigration program, the (QIIP) is aimed at encouraging high net worth individuals to settle in the province of Quebec. Quebec will accept a maximum of 1750 applications during the subscription period including a maximum of 1200 from China, Hong Kong and Macao.

The application quotas and the limited period of reception do not apply to applicants to the investor category who can demonstrate an intermediate to advanced level of French language proficiency through an approved standardized language test. Applicants who can meet this requirement may submit an application anytime during the period beginning April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016.

To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate the following:

  • A legitimately acquired personal net worth of at least 1.6 million Canadian Dollars;
  • At least two years of senior managerial experience within the past five years in a private enterprise, eligible partnership, government body or NGO;
  • Commit to making an interest free investment of CAD $800,000.00 in a prescribed (government guaranteed) investment for a period of five years;
  • An intention to settle in the province of Quebec;
  • Application processing fee of C$15,000.

Interested readers are invited to complete our Free Online Evaluation to determine whether they qualify for immigration to Canada as a business Investor or free on-line evaluation as a skilled worker.  We will provide evaluation results within 1-2 business days. 

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Quebec May Ease Rules for its IIP After Failing to Meet Quota (Audio)

The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) is struggling to attract investors to its program following the introduction of strict new regulations.

Reports indicate that the scheme failed to fulfil its 2014 quota by a significant margin, despite the application deadline being extended three times. The application window was initially set to be open for just 12 days last September but was eventually launched earlier this year and recently closed on March 20th.

This is in stark contrast to 2013, when the application window was open for just two weeks when it received 5,389 valid applications. The 2012 target of 2,700 applications was reached in under a month. But for 2014, the QIIP repeatedly failed to meet its quota of just 1,750 applicants.

Historically, the QIIP has been one of the world’s most successful immigrant investor programs. It has been especially popular with wealthy Chinese nationals who have dominated the scheme for several years. From 2002 to 2012, the QIIP brought a total of 54,640 investor immigrants to Canada, out of which 35,966 were wealthy Chinese nationals.

The sharp drop in applicants is being blamed on strict new rules and documentation requirements imposed by Quebec’s authorities last year, along with substantially higher application fees. Sources say Quebec’s authorities have raised the bar too high and will have to change their selection criteria to bring back investors from China. The mainland has a huge pool of rich would-be investor immigrants eager to migrate but who would not currently qualify under Quebec’s new rules.

Quebec announced last month that the 2015 QIIP application subscription period would operate for five months beginning August 31 through January 31, 2016.  This in itself is a confirmation that Quebec has been forced to acknowledge the difficulty in applicants meeting program requirements.

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