Provincial Nominee Programs

In simple terms, your Net Worth is everything you own(assets) minus what you owe(liabilities). Your assets can be tangible like cash, cash-equivalent, and real estate or intangible like patents, goodwill, and licenses. In most PNPs your spouse’s Net Worth can also count towards yours.

The minimum requirement for Net Worth is different for each PNP. It can also be different based on the geographical location within each province. For example, the required Net Worth in the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) for a business outside of Yellowknife is $250,000 while for a business within Yellowknife is $500,000. These amounts for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program(OINP) for within and outside of the Greater Toronto Area is $800,000 and $400,000 respectively.

Usually the province considering your nomination has authorised third-parties to conduct reviews and verification on your claimed Net Worth. Some provinces may do this themselves. Nevertheless the process involves submission of documents proving claimed Net Worth. Depending on the complexity, nature and diversity of your finances the process can be both complicated and time consuming.

Examples of the types of documents you will need to provide are title deed, property valuation report, banks statements, purchase agreements, share certificates, income statements for businesses, statements of profit and loss, copy of your accountant’s license and contact information, transfer of share documents and etc.

For some provinces there are country-specific documents that you will need to submit to either the province or the third-party authorised by the province depending on your country of residence.

You cannot use that business per se to satisfy the PNP requirements but you can base your Canadian business on your existing business outside of Canada. This strategy shall be adopted with care, due diligence and depending on the type your business, and sophistication of your home jurisdiction’s market. For example if you are coming from a common wealth jurisdiction you may find many similarities between Canada and your home jurisdiction but if you are coming from a less sophisticated market, then you have to be very careful about how your business should adapt to the Canadian market.

The minimum investment requirement is the minimum amount that each province expects you to spend on your proposed business. All investments shall be made based on the province’s guidelines and the terms of your Business Performance Agreement. Not all investments are eligible.

The amount of the minimum investment like the net worth varies between each province and it can also vary based on geography. In some provinces like Ontario, the minimum investment also varies based on the type of business.

Almost all provinces have guidelines that govern investment eligibility. These guidelines are different for each province.

Examples of eligible investments are new equipment purchase, leasehold improvement, inventory, operating expenses and etc. Examples of ineligible investments are cash and working capital, wage paid to yourself and your family members, passive investments(i.e. buy and hold real estate to sell for profit) and etc.

The underlying objective of provincial guidelines imposed on investments is to ensure that the proposed business will lead to active income, and therefore create economic stimulus. Through the years of implementing PNPs the provinces have made the use of their programs very difficult for passive investors who are mainly interested in obtaining the right of Permanent Residency as opposed to run a well intended business.

Success is rather a vague term in this context. What is important however is the terms of your Business Performance Agreement. This agreement stipulates business milestones that you will have to meet in order to be eligible for provincial nomination, and eventually the right of Permanent Residency. These milestones are usually based on your business plans and are finalized after a series of negotiations with the provincial authorities.

This is the agreement that potential provincial nominees sign with the provincial government that outlines all terms and conditions that will determine their ultimate eligibility for nomination and permanent residency. Every agreement is different and unique to each business and applicant but in general these agreements contain terms pertaining to:

• Investment terms, amounts and timelines;
• Number and type of jobs to be created;
• Mandatory business milestones and achievements;
• Reporting and audit requirements;
• Deadlines for commitments;
• Registration, licensing, provision of goods and services commitments;
• Location of proposed business and applicant’s residency requirements;

Every PNP sets its own residency requirement but almost all of them have this requirement. For example some provinces require the applicant to be physically residing in the province for 75% of the Performance Agreement period. Some provinces even impose a geographical vicinity obligation (i.e. applicant must prove they have resided within 100 kilometres of the business).

These obligations are set in place to deter those seeking only the right of permanent residency as opposed to having the primary intention of running a legitimate business.

In most cases when you apply to receive a provincial nomination, you sign a letter indicating your intent to settle in that province, and in some case like in New Brunswick, you even sign a commitment to reside in the province. However once you become a permanent resident of Canada you are afforded Mobility Rights pursuant to section 6(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allows every permanent resident of Canada to move and take up residence in any province. But this right is not absolute. While there is indeed the possibility that your nominating province can request the IRCC to revoke your PR status on the grounds of misrepresentation (arguing that you misrepresented your intent to stay in the province), the law on this point remains ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Provinces nominate you for permanent residency because they want you to reside in that province and contribute to its economic prosperity, and while they have the legal possibility to cause your PR revocation if you ultimately move out of the province, they will have an incredibly difficult job in succeeding.

No. while some PNPs allow for co-applicants or business partners on a single proposed business, they expect each and every applicant to meet the program requirements. For example, in Ontario if you have a foreign national business partner, they must also meet the minimum investment funds requirement on their own (i.e. in the case of business being in the GTA, each applicant must invest a minimum of $600,000 for a minimum total investment of $1,200,000 in the proposed business).

Every PNP is designed to accommodate the economic priorities of its province. Therefore, PNPs usually impose restrictions on the type of business that you can buy or establish in that province. For example, Ontario does not allow you to buy an existing franchise for a proposed business within the GTA, or you cannot start a real estate development business in British Colombia, or you cannot start or buy a bed and breakfast business in Manitoba. It is therefore very important that you are properly advised on business eligibility for each PNP.

Active management or active involvement in the day-to-day management activities of the proposed business is almost always a requirement in every PNP. The purpose here is to ensure your engagement on the business thus increasing its chances for success and economic contribution to the province. This requirement is yet another measure used by provinces to prevent individuals from primarily wanting to obtain immigration privileges rather than running legitimate businesses in the province.

The active management requirement coupled with the residency requirements mean that you will have to be physically present to manage your business in the province.

Similar to other point-based immigration programs, the point-based PNPs set minimum requirements for eligibility but will choose applicants from those scoring the highest points. For example, in Ontario, the most popular province for immigration, applicants need at least twice the minimum eligibility scores to have a chance of receiving an Invitation to Apply. Therefore, you need to bear in mind that merely meeting the minimum requirements for point-based PNPs will not result in your admission into those programs. This is particularly the case for provinces that are popular for immigration (like Ontario and British Colombia).

While no specific time can be given, the time line for PNPs can be divided in the following:

1. Time to prepare your case: This is perhaps the longest time you will need to spend in this process and will include time spent on: identifying business opportunities, formulating a business action plan, field and market research, writing and finalizing the business plan, preparing the necessary documents for submission of an Expression of Interest, visit the province if required, and final submissions.
2. Province Processing Time: This is the time that the province will take to process your application and varies in each province between 4 to 12 months.
3. Performance Agreement duration: This is the time in which you will have to meet all the terms and conditions of your Business Performance Agreement to be eligible for nomination and permanent residency. this time also varies between each province between 12 to 36 months.