Economic Benefits of the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP)

Last Updated on Fevereiro 7, 2020

March 8, 2017 – The Quebec immigrant investor program (QIIP) is the only passive business investment program offering permanent immigration to Canada.
It was created by the provincial government in 1986 for high net worth individuals with a strong management background. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) allows business people and their families, who invest $800,000, to enter the province of Quebec as Canadian permanent residents. In return, funding made available through the Quebec Government, (Investissement Quebec), helps provide subsidies to support small and medium sized businesses throughout the Province of Quebec.

The economic benefits of a passive immigrant investor program have been criticized by many stakeholders, including the Federal government.  The federal government previously operated its own parallel program known as the Federal Immigrant Investor Program before it was repealed in 2014.  It dismissed previous studies outlining the direct and indirect benefits of the former program.

The immigrant investor industry has proven to be a highly lucrative business bringing billions of dollars to governments for infrastructure investment. Canada had a stronghold on the mid-level investor market largely dominated by China and the Middle East. The province of Quebec continues to successfully promote its own immigrant investor program to high net worth individuals with at least $1.6 M.  Approved applicants must invest $800,000, interest-free, in a government guaranteed investment scheme for a period of 5-years.

The previous Canada immigration investor program, the Federal Immigrant Investor program, a five-year interest-free passive investment, was established in response to growing demand for investment capital by Canadian businesses. During the 1990’s Canada received a much greater benefit from the investment capital attributed to higher interest rate environments.

However, even at the current low interest rates, a passive immigrant investor program is highly beneficial to the economy.  A well managed program offers large revenue potential to governments and the private sector. The Province of Quebec, through Investissement Quebec, allocates on average from approved immigrant investors, approximately $150,000 to a qualified Quebec small and medium sized business..

The benefits of the QIIP to the province are undeniable.  During the period, January 2001 through February 2016, the QIIP program generated more than $700 Million from immigrant investors and this sum was allocated to 4,737 Quebec businesses located in 17 regions throughout the province.

During the period 2016/2017, Quebec received 1900 investor applications.  It plans to receive a similar number in 2017/2018.  Investment requirements will remain unchanged.

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