The Citizenship and Immigration department of Canada has decided to government’s terminate its Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) and Federal Entrepreneur (EN) Program.
Under the IIP, an immigrant is guaranteed permanent residence in Canada in exchange for a guaranteed $800,000 loan (before 2010, the amount was only $400,000). In comparison, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require $5 million to $10 million, and do not offer up-front permanent residency.
However, the IIP provides limited economic benefit to Canada, says The Citizenship and Immigration department of Canada in a statement.
The department believes that an immigrant investor pays about $200,000 less in income taxes than a federal skilled worker over a 20-year career, and almost $100,000 less in taxes than one live-in caregiver.
“Research shows that immigrant investors pay less in taxes than other economic immigrants, are less likely to stay in Canada over the medium- to long-term and often lack the skills, including official language proficiency, to integrate as well as other immigrants from the same countries,” the statement says.
The termination of IIP will also help the immigration department in getting rid of pending applications. The IIP has a backlog more than 65,000 persons, larger than any other economic immigration program in Canada. “At current levels, it would take more than six years to process this inventory,” the department says.
The measures announced in the Economic Action Plan (EAP) 2014 will help “build a faster, more flexible immigration system”, says Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.
This will also allow the government to launch programs that will meet Canada’s labour market and economic needs.
Eliminating the IIP and EN programs will allow the government to focus on attracting experienced business people and raising investment capital.
The government revealed its plans to replace these programs with more focused programs that will ensure that “immigrants who come to Canada deliver meaningful benefits to our economy.
“This will complement CIC’s Start-Up Visa, enabling Canada to remain competitive in the global economy.
The new programs will be launched later this year.
What is IIP
Under the Immigrant Investor Program, Canada offers guaranteed permanent residence in exchange for a guaranteed $800,000 loan (before 2010, the amount was only $400,000). The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require as much as $5 to $10 million, and do not offer up-front permanent residency.
Over a 20-year career, an immigrant investor pays about $200,000 less in income taxes than a federal skilled worker and almost $100,000 less in taxes than one live-in caregiver.
The current IIP has an inventory of more than 65,000 persons, larger than any other economic immigration program. At current levels, it would take more than six years to process this inventory.
Wealthy investor immigrants pay little in taxes, struggle with official languages
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