Investor

June 19, 2014, the Federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (now called the department of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has terminated applications who did not receive a selection decision on or before February 11, 2014.

Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Pilot Program “IIVC”

Personal net worth

To qualify for the IIVC programme 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.

Personal net worth acquired by inheritance or in the value of the applicant’s primary residence will not count towards the personal net worth requirement.

  • Accumulation of the Personal Net-Worth

    Once an application is submitted and reviewed by IRCC, an applicant will be notified of a second level review. Should that be the case, an applicant will be required to hire, at his/her own expense, on of the following firms, to review his/her proofs of Net-Worth Accumulation and obtain a due diligence report:

    • 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 the applicant’s past business or investment experience, source of funds and personal net worth.

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

    Notes:

    • If you are asked to obtain a due diligence report, you will be responsible for selecting a designated service provider, submitting the required documents to them, and paying the required fees. You will need to submit this report to CIC within the specified timeframe.
    • You do not need to obtain a due diligence report when applying to the IIVC Pilot Program. IRCC will ask an applicant to obtain this report only if his/her application can be considered for a second stage review.

  • Non-guaranteed investment in a venture capital fund

    An applicant 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 an applicant is approved under this program, the applicant will be required to enter into an agreement with IRCC committing a sum of CDN $2 million to the IIVC Fund for approximately 15 years.

    As with any venture capital investment, an investor 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 an applicant loses some or all of his/her investment.

  • Language skills

    Applicants must:

    • prove their proficiency in English or French in all four language abilities (speaking, reading, listening and writing)
    • include the original language test results when an application is filed
      • language test results must be less than two years old on the day IRCC receives the application.

    If an applicant does not provide original language test results that demonstrate an applicant’s language abilities when the application is filed, the application will not be considered for the next steps.

  • Education

    An applicant 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 an applicant has completed foreign education credential is equal to a completed Canadian
        post-secondary education credential of at least one year.

      If an applicant can demonstrate that he/she has a personal net worth of $50 million or more acquired through lawful, private sector business or investment activities, a request for an exemption from the education requirement may be submitted when an application is filed, using the form provided by IRCC.

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