Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227)

Quebec Investor Class

Marginal note:Class

• 90 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the Quebec investor class is prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada.

• Marginal note:Member of class

  (2) A foreign national is a member of the Quebec investor class if they

  • (a) intend to reside in Quebec; and

  • (b) are named in a Certificat de sélection du Québec issued by Quebec.

91 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

92 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

93 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

94 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

95 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

96 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 5]

Quebec Entrepreneur Class

Marginal note:Class

• 97 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the Quebec entrepreneur class is prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada.

• Marginal note:Member of class

  (2) A foreign national is a member of the Quebec entrepreneur class if they

  • (a) intend to reside in Quebec; and

  • (b) are named in a Certificat de sélection du Québec issued by Quebec.

98 [Repealed, SOR/2016-316, s. 6]

Start-up Business Class

Marginal note:Class

• 98.01 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the start-up business class is prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada, who meet the requirements of subsection (2) and who intend to reside in a province other than Quebec.

• Marginal note:Member of class

  (2) A foreign national is a member of the start-up business class if

  • (a) they have obtained a commitment that is made by one or more entities designated under subsection 98.03(1), that is less than six months old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and that meets the requirements of section 98.04;

  • (b) they have submitted the results of a language test that is approved under subsection 102.3(4), which results must be provided by an organization or institution that is designated under that subsection, be less than two years old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and indicate that the foreign national has met at least benchmark level 5 in either official language for all four language skill areas, as set out in the Canadian Language Benchmarks or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, as applicable;

  • (c) they have, excluding any investment made by a designated entity into their business, transferable and available funds unencumbered by debts or other obligations of an amount that is equal to one half of the amount identified, in the most recent edition of the publication concerning low income cut-offs published annually by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act, for urban areas of residence of 500,000 persons or more, as the minimum amount of before-tax annual income that is necessary to support a group of persons equal in number to the total number of the applicant and their family members; and

  • (d) they have started a qualifying business within the meaning of section 98.06.

• Marginal note:Size

  (3) No more than five applicants are to be considered members of the start-up business class in respect of the same business.

Marginal note:Agreements with organizations

• 98.02 (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement with an organization to provide for any matter related to the start-up business class, including

  • (a) the making of recommendations and the provision of advice to the Minister on the designation of an entity and on the revocation of those designations;

  • (b) the establishment of criteria, standards of conduct and best practices for the making of commitments or the performance of other activities related to the start-up business class by an entity;

  • (c) the making of recommendations and the provision of advice to the Minister on the operation of these Regulations with respect to the start-up business class;

  • (d) the establishment of peer review panels referred to in section 98.09; and

  • (e) the submission of reports to the Minister on the activities of designated entities.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (2) In order to exercise the functions referred to in paragraphs (1)(a), (b), (d) and (e), the organization must have expertise in relation to the type of entity in question, namely,

  • (a) business incubators;

  • (b) angel investor groups; or

  • (c) venture capital funds.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (3) An organization may exercise the functions referred to in subsection (1) only when the following conditions apply:

  • (a) the organization is in compliance with the agreement and the agreement remains in force;

  • (b) subject to subsections 98.12(2) and 98.13(4), the organization complies with requirements imposed under subsection 98.12(1) and paragraphs 98.13(2)(b), (c), and (f) and requests made under subsection 98.13(3);

  • (c) the organization is in compliance with these Regulations; and

  • (d) the organization has expertise in relation to at least one of the entity types referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) to (c).

Marginal note:Designation

• 98.03 (1) The Minister must designate the entities referred to in subsection 98.01(2) according to the following categories:

  • (a) business incubators;

  • (b) angel investor groups; and

  • (c) venture capital funds.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (2) The Minister may only designate an entity if

  • (a) it is recognized for its expertise in assessing the potential for and assisting in the success of start-up business opportunities in Canada; and

  • (b) it has the ability to assess the potential for and assist in the success of start-up business opportunities in Canada.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (3) A designated entity must respect the following conditions:

  • (a) it must continue to meet the requirements of subsection (2);

  • (b) it must enter only into commitments that respect these Regulations;

  • (c) it must provide the Minister upon request with information on its activities related to the start-up business class, including information on foreign nationals with whom it has made commitments and the businesses referred to in those commitments;

  • (d) it must, subject to subsections 98.12(2) and 98.13(4), comply with requirements imposed under subsection 98.12(1) and paragraphs 98.13(2)(b), (c) and (f) and requests made under subsection 98.13(3);

  • (e) it must comply with the terms of its commitments and with these Regulations; and

  • (f) it must comply with any federal or provincial law or regulation relevant to the service it provides.

• Marginal note:Suspension

  (4) If there is reason to suspect that an entity does not meet the conditions or has submitted false, misleading or inaccurate information to the Minister, the Minister may

  • (a) suspend the entity’s ability to make commitments; and

  • (b) refuse to consider applications associated with commitments made by that entity.

• Marginal note:Duration

  (5) An action taken under subsection (4) comes into force on the day on which the Minister issues a notice of the action to the entity and remains in effect until the earlier of the day on which the situation is resolved and the day that is nine months after the day on which the notice is issued.

• Marginal note:Revocation

  (6) If there are reasonable grounds to believe that an entity does not meet the conditions set out in subsection (3) or has submitted false, misleading or inaccurate information to the Minister, the Minister may revoke the entity’s designation.

• Marginal note:Public notice
  

  (7) The Minister must publish on the Department’s website a list of all entities that are designated and those that are suspended under subsection (4).

Marginal note:Form of commitment

• 98.04 (1) A commitment must be in a written or electronic form that is acceptable to the Minister and must be provided by a person who has the authority to bind the designated entity.

• Marginal note:No fee for commitment

  (2) A commitment does not respect these Regulations if the entity that made it charges a fee to review and assess the business proposal or to assess the business.

• Marginal note:Multiple applicants

  (3) If there is more than one applicant in respect of a commitment, the commitment must

  • (a) include information on each applicant; and

  • (b) identify those applicants that the entity making the commitment considers essential to the business.

• Marginal note:Conditional commitment

  (4) If there is more than one applicant in respect of a commitment, the commitment may be conditional on the issuance of a permanent resident visa to one or more of those applicants.

Marginal note:Minimum investment

• 98.05 (1) The Minister must establish the minimum total amount that the designated entities involved in the commitment must invest by buying shares or other forms of equity in the applicant’s business.

• Marginal note:Types of entities

  (2) The Minister may establish different minimum investment amounts based on whether the commitment was made by a business incubator, an angel investor group or a venture capital fund and, for commitments involving more than one type of entity, may specify different minimum investment amounts for commitments involving different combinations of entity types.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (3) The Minister must establish the minimum investment amount on the basis of the following factors:

  • (a) the number or projected number of start-up business class applicants and designated entities;

  • (b) the proportion per year of start-up business class applications approved, withdrawn or refused, as well as the grounds for refusal;

  • (c) the amount of investment received per year by start-up business class applicants from designated entities as part of a commitment;

  • (d) the number, type and industry sector of businesses started in Canada by approved start-up business class applicants per year and the average investment needs of start-up businesses of those types in those industry sectors;

  • (e) the average amount of investment and number of investments made in start-up companies in Canada per year;

  • (f) the level of investment usually required for a business started in Canada by a member of the start-up business class to be successful and for the member of the class to become economically established in Canada; and

  • (g) industry standards and best practices, as determined in consultation with organizations referred to in section 98.02, designated entities or other relevant stakeholders.

• Marginal note:Public notice

  (4) The Minister must publish the amounts established under subsection (1) on the Department’s website.

Marginal note:Qualifying business

• 98.06 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 98.01(2)(d), a qualifying business with respect to an applicant is one

  • (a) in which the applicant provides active and ongoing management from within Canada;

  • (b) for which an essential part of its operations is conducted in Canada;

  • (c) that is incorporated in Canada; and

  • (d) that has an ownership structure that complies with the percentages established under subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Exception — intention

  (2) A business that fails to meet one or more of the requirements of paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) is nevertheless a qualifying business if the applicant intends to have it meet those requirements after they have been issued a permanent resident visa.

• Marginal note:Ownership structure

  (3) The Minister must establish

  • (a) the minimum percentage of voting rights that are attached to all the outstanding shares of the corporation that must be held by the applicant; and

  • (b) the maximum percentage of the total amount of the voting rights attached to all the outstanding shares of the corporation that may be held by persons or entities, other than qualified participants.

• Marginal note:Qualified participant

  (4) For the purpose of paragraph (3)(b), a qualified participant is

  • (a) an applicant in respect of the business;

  • (b) a foreign national who has been issued a permanent resident visa as a member of the start-up business class in respect of the business; or

  • (c) a designated entity.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (5) The Minister must establish the percentages referred to in subsection (3) on the basis of the following factors:

  • (a) the number or projected number of start-up business class applicants and designated entities;

  • (b) the proportion per year of start-up business class applications approved, withdrawn or refused, as well as the grounds for refusal;

  • (c) the average size of businesses for which commitments are made and the average percentage of voting rights held by applicants and designated entities;

  • (d) the average size of start-up companies in Canada and the average percentage of voting rights held by the founders of those companies and other investors in those companies;

  • (e) the number, type and industry sector of businesses successfully started in Canada by approved start-up business class applicants per year and the most common ownership structures for businesses of those types in those industry sectors;

  • (f) the ownership share usually required for a business started in Canada by a member of the start-up business class to be successful and for the member of the class to become economically established in Canada; and

  • (g) industry standards and best practices, as determined in consultation with organizations referred to in section 98.02, designated entities or other relevant stakeholders.

• Marginal note:Public notice

  (6) The Minister must publish the percentages established under subsection (3) on the Department’s website.