Quebec Investor / Entrepreneur / Self-Employed

[Shawarma]

Hello All,

I have read every relevant thread within this sub-forum on this topic. Just want your advice on focussing on the 3 different options offered:

Investor candidate
Your intention to settle in Québec, your management experience, your investment agreement, your assets and their lawful acquisition.

Entrepreneur candidate
Your experience as a entrepreneur, your ability to successfully carry out a business plan, your efforts to acquire a business in Québec, your assets and their lawful acquisition.

Self-employed worker candidate
Your career and experience as a self-employed worker, your assets and their lawful acquisition.

My scenario is as follows, my father is over 61 years of age. By profession he is a Civil Engineer. What would be the best program for him to apply for and have my mother also get her PR as a dependent? I do understand that the above programs mention that you need to have "intent" of staying in Quebec. But is this enforced for Citizenship? I currently do not live in Quebec - and would like them to live with me. Is the self-employed class optimistic? Any experiences to share please?

I have heard that there are over 4 year long wait-times for the Entrepreneur candidate class, is this true? Is it challenging to find a business in Quebec towards the application? I've heard BC is extremely hard. Is the Investor class significantly faster? Does anyone have any timelines please? I didn't see anything online with regards to timeline. For the Investor class funds of $800,000:

• Do they all have to be paid at once?
• Can the funds come from a relative? Atleast a part?
• What is the typical return for investing it for 5 years? I heard somewhere it would be only about $40,000
• From this [cannot post URL], can someone clarify if there are different investment options? Could there be a monthly payout etc.? Are recommendations from the authorized list etc.?

Also - I have read that there are variants to the Investor class : Full Investment and Financed Investment. But I've not read any information online about the Financed Investment approach. Can someone clarify? Which one would be recommended. I only found this from the forums, but not posted anywhere officially:

Financed Investment
The investor pays a reduced amount*, which is used to finance a CA$ 800,000 closed five-year term loan from a chartered bank. No further payment is required. However, the paid amount is not returned to the investor at the end of the five-year period.
This option is particularly attractive for applicants seeking to retain maximum capital for investment in ongoing business operations.
You could receive a grant of $40,000 to $250,000 and covering up to 10% of project costs.
Financing covering up to 10% of total project costs (15% for business start-ups) - For projects costing between $300,000 and $400,000, the amount of the financial assistance is set at $40,000 **
* This amount may change marginally, if the prime lending rates in the national banking system rise or fall in response to changes in the Bank of Canada key interest rate.
** The contribution is paid out over four years. The maximum is $250,000 per company within a three-year period.

The one thing that worries me is that we would not receive ANY money back! I don't understand how the other two bullet points we could apply towards?

Any other helpful hints that someone can share? Would the BC Investor class be a better option to consider?

Thank you.

 

[scylla]

The money cannot be borrowed. It must be their own money and they must provide proof it is their own money.

Assuming you are a PR, your best option is to sponsor your parents through the parent / grandparent sponsorship program once you make enough income to qualify.

Given your father's age and the fact he is very close to retirement, it will be difficult for him to qualify as an economic immigrant.

 

[Shawarma]

The money cannot be borrowed. It must be their own money and they must provide proof it is their own money.

Can you provide a hyperlink that explicitly mentions this?

Assuming you are a PR, your best option is to sponsor your parents through the parent / grandparent sponsorship program once you make enough income to qualify.

Unfortunately, Parents sponsorship is quite a nightmare. Specially with the limited spots open, it is really an uncertain lottery system. I don't have much hope for this program ever succeeding for us. Besides, even if my application got through, wait times are > 5 years until they actually get PR.

Given your father's age and the fact he is very close to retirement, it will be difficult for him to qualify as an economic immigrant.

Can you provide further information as to why you think that is? There are no points based things that apply for this program - so how does age matter?

My request to you - is if you cannot provide further depth to your replies. Please don't bother replying to my questions.

 

[Bs65]

Might politely suggest that as your case seems fairly complex the only sensible answer you will get will likely be from a professional immigration lawyer and not a public forum.

And yes age is considered for any application regardless of how much money a person has to invest and no I do not have a link but this is just common sense that any application will look at future burden to the country for health and social care system regardless of financial status given finances can always go negative.

Ageism does exist as a reality unfortunately and for the categories listed whether legal or not when looking at the long term benefit and committment on granting any type of visa for these caregories.

As said consult an immigration lawyer given this could involve a significant financial committment that public forum advice might never satisfy you.

Plus assume your parents are fluent in French as well if they have any intention at all in investing or working in Quebec but then again i do not have a link saying French is required for Quebec but common sense implies might be useful.

 

[Shawarma]

Thank you BS65. Will definitely keep your points in mind and consider a professional lawyer.

Best regards.

 

[Tango123]

Hi Shawerma,

I'm in a similar situation and was wondering what is the best and quickest option to bring my parents here as you said the sponsorship program is almost impossible to reach.

Did you consult with a lawyer or have any information? I would be very interested to know.

 

[XpressEnterprise]

Following are my suggestions regarding investor visa:

1) Before you even make a final decision on Investor Visa, you must understand that this process WILL take time - a considerable amount of time... with hefty paperwork.

2) Since one of your parents is 60+, they may face issues in clearing Medical examination. It's just that with age, one would get health issues. But, if they are healthy, then it's not an issue.

3) ANY investor class category require lots of research. No one can tell you which program is suitable for your parents, without knowing about your parents in detail.

4) If you visit official link of Quebec Investor Program, it says

Intend to settle in Québec and sign an agreement to invest $800,000 CAN with a financial intermediary (broker or trust company) authorized to participate in the Investor Program.

This means you make a deal with broker and the broker will put their $800,000 of money on your behalf, however you'd have to pay the interest (like $200,000 something) which you can negotiate with the broker. In this option, money is non-refundable.

5) During your application, you'll be asked to sign Form IMM0008 - Declaration of Intent to Reside in Quebec. Now, nowhere on this declaration, it says the word 'forever'. Neither does it state the consequences of not abiding by it. Accoridng to the Canadian Charter of Freedom and Rights, you are free to live and work in Canada, as a permanent resident. However, in an interview couple of months back, Immigration Minister John McCallum expressed his views about immigrants being told where to live in Canada. In my view, if you have signed a declaration, you land in Quebec and leave Quebec just like that, this would be considered as misrepresentation. However, if you have lived in Quebec, made a significant amount of effort to establish yourself here in like a year or two (and can prove it too), and then you move outside Quebec, then that wouldn't be considered a misrepresentation, because you made a sincere effort.