As an investor, you must make a prescribed investment of CDN $800,000. This investment is placed with the Receiver General of Canada.

Participating provinces then use your investment to create jobs and help their economies grow. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will return your investment to you, without interest, in approximately five years after you become a permanent resident.

“Investor” means a foreign national who

- has business experience;
- has a legally obtained net worth of at least CDN $1,600,000; and
- indicates in writing to an officer that they intend to make or have made an investment.
- “Business experience”, in respect of an investor, means

the management of a qualifying business and the control of a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the day a determination is made in respect of the application, or
the management of at least five full-time job equivalents per year in a business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the day a determination is made in respect of the application.
“Full-time job equivalent” means 1,950 hours of paid employment.

“Net assets”, in respect of a qualifying business or a qualifying Canadian business, means the assets of the business, minus the liabilities of the business, plus shareholder loans made to the business by a foreign national and their spouse or common-law partner.

“Net income”, in respect of a qualifying business or a qualifying Canadian business means the after tax profit or loss of the business plus remuneration by the business to a foreign national and their spouse or common-law partner.

“Net worth”, in respect of an investor, means

the fair market value of all of the assets of the investor and their spouse or common-law partner minus the fair market value of all of their liabilities.

“Percentage of equity” means

in respect of a sole proprietorship, 100 per cent of the equity of the sole proprietorship controlled by a foreign national or their spouse or common-law partner;
in respect of a corporation, the percentage of the issued and outstanding voting shares of the capital stock of the corporation controlled by a foreign national or their spouse or common-law partner; and
in respect of a partnership or joint venture, the percentage of the profit or loss of the partnership or joint venture to which the foreign national or their spouse or common-law partner is entitled.
“Qualifying business” means a business — other than a business operated primarily for the purpose of deriving investment income such as interest, dividends or capital gains — for which, in each of any two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application for a permanent resident visa and ending on the date a determination is made in respect of the application, there is documentary evidence of any two of the following:

	that the percentage of equity multiplied by the number of full time job equivalents is equal to or greater than two full-time job equivalents per year;
	that the percentage of equity multiplied by the total annual sales is equal to or greater than CDN $500,000;
	that the percentage of equity multiplied by the net income in the year is equal to or greater than CDN $50,000; and
	that the percentage of equity multiplied by the net assets at the end of the year is equal to or greater than CDN $125,000.