By Uglobal Staff
The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program will remain suspended for two more years as part of government reforms to modernize the immigration system in the eastern Canadian province.
The program was slated to reopen April 1, 2021 following its previous suspension on Nov. 1, 2019. However, the government announced today that applications for the QIIP will not reopen until April 1, 2023.
"This period of time will allow the ministry to finalize the revision work under way, allowing it to implement an updated program that better corresponds to the government's objectives in terms of the integration and francization of immigrants," according to the Quebec government.
The government clarified that all previous applications made under this program would continue to be processed during this period.
The impact of the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program
The QIIP has been in operation since the 1980s. Since 2001, it is estimated to have seen 700 million Canadian dollars in investment that ended up serving 4,700 Quebec businesses.
One of the main reasons for its popularity was the fact that it was passive in nature, which means that investors were not required to form or manage a business in Quebec on their own. Instead, an investor is asked to invest money in a provincial government-backed initiative. QIIP applicants, who can prove their net worth is at least 2 million Canadian dollars and have some management experience, are asked to invest 1.2 million Canadian dollars in an authorized Canadian company in the province, revenues from which then are used to fund other business programs. Investors get their money back, minus the interest, after a period of five years.
Enforcing the requirement to stay in the province
Quebec has found it challenging to keep foreign investors in the province once they get their permanent residencies. A key requirement in the QIIP is that the foreign investor must show intent to stay permanently in the predominantly French-speaking province. But while most successful applicants under this program meet this requirement and say they intend to stay, there is little the provincial government can do once the foreign investor decides to live in another province instead after getting the coveted permanent residency.
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