Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program

If you are an international investor with the skills and abilities needed to contribute to our economy and integrate into Canadian society, you may be eligible to apply for permanent residence under the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Pilot Program.

Determine your eligibility

You must meet all of the requirements listed below to be eligible to apply under the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program. You must also plan to live outside the province of Quebec.

Personal net worth

You must have a personal net worth of CDN $10 million or more. Your net worth must have been acquired through lawful, private sector business or investment activities.

Proof of personal net worth

CIC will require applicants whose applications can be considered for our second stage review to obtain a due diligence report at their expense from one of the following designated service providers:

• BDO USA, LLP

• Deloitte Forensic Inc.

• EY

• KPMG LLP

• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP

• Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc.

The due diligence report is an independent examination and validation of your past business or investment experience, source of funds and personal net worth.

The report will include the service provider’s opinion as to whether your wealth was acquired through lawful, private sector business or investment activities. Their report would also flag any potentially negative information for a CIC officer to consider.

Non-guaranteed investment in a venture capital fund

You must be willing and able to make an at-risk investment (non-guaranteed) of CDN $2 million in the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) Fund.

If you are one of the immigrant investors approved under this program, you will be required to enter into an agreement with CIC committing a sum of CDN $2 million to the IIVC Fund for approximately 15 years.

As with any venture capital investment, you could receive proceeds over time or at the end of the investment term. Proceeds will depend on the fund's performance and will be based on its gains or losses, including expenses and fees incurred to manage it.

However, this would be an at-risk investment. This means that there is no guarantee of a return and it is possible that you could lose some or all of your investment.

Language skills

You must:

• prove your proficiency in English or French in all four language abilities (speaking, reading, listening and writing)

  -  take a language test approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC);

  -  meet the minimum language levels of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in either English or French for all four          language abilities (you can use your test results to find your CLB level); and

• include the original language test results when you apply

  -  your language test results must be less than two years old on the day CIC receives your application.

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Education

You must have:

• a completed Canadian post-secondary degree, diploma or certificate of at least one year

  OR

• a foreign equivalent, as validated by an original Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)report from a CIC-designated organization. The ECA report must indicate that your completed foreign education credential is equal to a completed Canadian post-secondary education credential of at least one year.

The outcome stated in your ECA report must match one of the acceptable assessment outcomesfor you to be eligible to apply.

Inadmissibility

Some people are inadmissible – they are not allowed to come to Canada. Many things can make you inadmissible, such as being involved in criminal activity, in human rights violations or in organized crime.You can also be inadmissible for security, health or financial reasons.

If you are inadmissible to Canada, you cannot apply under the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program as your application will be refused.