Federal
There is no open federal investor program. The old Immigrant Investor Program ended years ago and was not replaced by a passive federal investment visa.
- Money in a Canadian bank, a property purchase, or buying a business does not, by itself, create a federal permanent-residence category.
- The Start-up Visa is an entrepreneur program, and it is paused. The Self-Employed Persons Program is paused and was never an investor program.
- A passive investment route that is actually described as open is Quebec’s, below. A person who will run a business should use the Entrepreneurs page.
How we can help
- Stop a federal “investor” file that does not exist, and point the plan at Quebec or at an entrepreneur stream.
- Say clearly when the goal is passive capital and when the goal is running a company. They are different programs.
Quebec
A passive route. You do not found a company. You do sign an investment agreement with a financial intermediary that has an agreement with the ministry and with Investissement Québec Immigrants Investisseurs.
What has to be true
- At least two years of management experience in the five years before the application.
- Net worth of at least CAD $2,000,000. It can be shared with a spouse on the file. Donations received in the six months before filing are excluded.
- Investment of CAD $1,000,000 for five years, made by the intermediary, plus a contribution of CAD $200,000.
- The investment is guaranteed by the Quebec government and repaid without interest at the end of the term. The contribution is not repaid.
- The intermediary puts both amounts in place no later than 120 days after the ministry asks.
- If the conditions are met, you receive a notice of intent to select. That notice can support a work permit, for you and the family on the file, within six months.
- The Quebec selection certificate comes later. The federal permanent-residence application comes after that, with its own medical, police, and security checks. Net worth does not remove those.
- Quebec says an application may be submitted at any time, with no maximum number. The principal applicant’s selection fee was published at $18,241 for 2026. Fees are adjusted on 1 January.
How we can help
- Check management experience and the net-worth evidence before an intermediary is engaged.
- Walk the order: agreement, notice of intent, work permit if you want one, selection certificate, then the federal file.
- Keep the $200,000 contribution distinct from the $1,000,000 that is repaid.
