Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney emphasized on Tuesday that the federal investment immigration investment threshold of CAD 800,000 will be increased, but did not disclose the specific amount it will be raised to. Immigration lawyers predict that once this news is released, the annual quota of 2,700 for Quebec's investment immigration applications will be filled within the next 48 hours.
On Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Kenney made these statements during an interview with The Globe and Mail, while also explaining a series of recent immigration reforms he has been promoting.
Kenney pointed out that the current federal investment immigration threshold is "massively underselling".
He stated that the immigration department will redesign the investment immigration program. He believes that the Canadian investment immigration program is currently being massively undersold because it only requires applicants to provide a CAD 800,000 investment for five years, after which they can reclaim their principal minus commissions. Currently, there are millions of millionaires worldwide wanting to immigrate to Canada, and the investment threshold must be higher.
Experts Suggest Investment Amount of CAD 4 Million
Richard Kurland, editor-in-chief of Lexbase and immigration lawyer, expressed his support and welcome for Kenney's plan to increase the federal investment immigration threshold during an interview with Sing Tao Daily on Tuesday. He believes that if the threshold is not raised now, Canada will lose billions of dollars each year. He hopes to increase the investment immigration amount from CAD 800,000 to between CAD 2 million and CAD 4 million.
In fact, there are currently over 22,000 backlogged federal investment immigration applications worldwide, with 75% coming from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau.
Additionally, Kenney emphasized that the most important change in this series of immigration reforms is the renewed focus on the Canadian labor market. The expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) has been very successful, resulting in a threefold increase in immigration numbers in Manitoba, a fourfold increase in Saskatchewan, and a doubling in Alberta and the Atlantic provinces.
