In February 2014, the federal government of Canada abolished its investor and entrepreneur programs because it considered them inefficient in reaching their economic development objective. Since then, the government has not provided any information on the means it will put forth to replace these programs, other than it’s Start-Up Visa program program and a hypothetical pilot-program based on business skill.

Meanwhile, provincial investor and entrepreneur programs continue to accept applications with some adjustments. This is the case with the Quebec provincial programs. Indeed, Citizenship and Immigration Canada confirmed to the Quebec Ministry of Immigration that the latter’s programs will remain untouched by Ottawa’s décision.

On 26 March 2014, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration established new quotas for applications for Certificats de sélection du Québec (CSQ) : 1750 for investors and 500 for entrepreneurs and self-employed candidates. A reminder here about the two-step permanent immigration procès in Canada : CSQ is the first step in the process in the province of Quebec ; once a candidate is selected by the province of Quebec, (or nominated by any given province) he or she can then apply for permanent residence to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The Quebec government decided that it will receive, between September 8th and 19th 2014, a maximum of 1750 applications for investor CSQs, of which a maximum of 1200 applications can be from a single country.

This maximum number of applications does not apply to a candidate who has an intermediate-advanced knowledge of French demonstrated by a standardized test (TEF, TEFAQ, TCF, TCFQ, DELF and DALF). In this case, the candidate is allowed to make his CSQ application at any time until March 31st, 2015. He also benefits from priority processing.

To be eligible for this program, the candidate must:

Have, alone or with his accompanying spouse or common law spouse, net assets of at least $1,600,000 CAN obtained legally, excluding the amounts received by donation less than six months before the date on which the application was filed.
Have experience in management:
in a legal farming, commercial or industrial business, OR
in a legal professional business where the staff, excluding the investor, occupies at least the equivalent of two full-time jobs, OR
for an international agency or a government or one of its departments or agencies;
Intend to live in Québec and sign an agreement to invest $800,000 CAN for a five year term with an authorized financial intermediary (broker or trust company).


Management experience means: the exercise, for at least two years in the five years preceding the application for a selection certificate, of duties related to the planning, management and control of financial resources and of human or material resources under the applicant’s authority.

The assessment of the candidate’s application will also take into account other factors, including:

age,
the nature and duration of professional training and
language skills.
However, proficiency in French is not a requirement for acceptance of one’s application and indeed most past applicants to the investor’s program were not French-speaking at the outset.

The investment of $800,000 CAN for a five year term:

is guaranteed by the Québec government.
is reimbursed by the financial intermediary at the end of term, within 30 days, without interest.
Financial intermediaries offer the possibility of financing the investment, in which case the reimbursed amount will vary accordingly.
Whether we are talking about an Investor or Entrepreneur application, the process is complex and requires a lot of preparation. Also, due to the relatively small number of applications processed, quotas are rapidly reached in the first few months of the opening of the program. So begin the process now if you want to enter your application this year.

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