It is reported that the investment amount for Canadian federal and Quebec investor immigration may be increased to between 2 million and 3 million CAD in the future, with the addition of minimum language requirements and third-party background verification. It is understood that the magazine "Lexbase," through the "Access to Information Act," obtained a memorandum submitted by immigration department staff to the minister, which indicates that after temporarily freezing new investor immigration applications and consulting nationwide since August of last year, preliminary recommendations for relevant revisions have been made. The document states: "Specific improvements to the Federal Investor Immigration Program (FIIP) should include increasing the investment amount to 2 million to 3 million CAD (originally 800,000 CAD) through 'Ministerial Instructions,' setting minimum language requirements, and requiring applicants to provide third-party background checks to support their applications."
The document also states that since the end of 2010, applications for the Quebec Investor Immigration Program have continued to rise, with quotas for 2011 and 2012 being met immediately. The Quebec Investor Immigration Program reopened on August 1 of this year, and within two weeks of opening, it reached its quota within hours, with an estimated total of approximately 5,400 applications received.
It is estimated that the immigration department will announce the new federal investor immigration program in 6 to 8 weeks, and measures including increasing the investment amount, minimum language requirements, and third-party background checks will be implemented. Background checks are intended to ensure that applicants have no criminal record and that their source of funds is legitimate. As for the minimum language requirements, they are not expected to be higher than those for foreign workers.
