Business Immigrant Programs: Federal v PNP

By: Roland Luo & Chris Munroe 

August 18, 2011 

Over the past 15 years, there has been a  big shift in Chinese immigration to 

Canada from skilled workers to investors and business people.  Potential business 

immigrants should be aware of differences between the Federal Business Immigration 

program and the Provincial Nominee Programs. 

Federal Business Immigrant Program 

The Federal Business Immigrant Program has two streams: entrepreneur and 

investor.  Both streams require applicants to have managed and controlled a qualifying 

business for at least two years, and have minimum net worth requirements. The main 

differences between the two streams are the significantly lower minimum net worth 

requirement for entrepreneurs and the conditions entrepreneur applicants must meet 

once approved and admitted as permanent  residents. Failure to meet these 

requirements may result in the applicants’ permanent resident status being revoked.

  

As of July 2011, the Federal Government has temporarily suspended processing 

new entrepreneur stream applications in an effort to reduce accumulated backlog. 

Applicants in the Federal Investor program have no post-admission 

requirements, however they must make an $800,000 investment with the government.  

This investment will be returned, without interest, after  five years.  Successful 

permanent residents in the investor stream are also free to pursue whatever interests or 

opportunities may arise once admitted. 

It is important to keep in mind that a new limit was put into place for the Federal 

Investor program. As of July 4, 2011, this new 700-case intake limit has already been 

met so no more applicants will be accepted until July 1, 2012.

Provincial Nominee Programs 

 Fortunately, many provinces have Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) which in 

many cases can be a faster route for new  business immigrants. Each province has 

different streams in their PNP to meet the specific needs of their region.

In British Columbia there are three business immigrant PNP  streams: Strategic 

Projects, Business Skills, and Regional Business.  All  streams require successful 

applicants to actively engage in the management of a business in B.C., sign 

agreements with the provincial  government outlining their business plan, and create a 

number of jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents.  Successful applicants are 

only issued a Temporary Work Permit until the requirements of the performance 

agreement are met (usually in about two years). 

The Strategic Projects stream is best suited for foreign companies that wish to 

establish a presence in B.C.  because it allows successful applicant companies to bring 

up to five executives who wish to become permanent residents.   

The Regional Business and Business Skills  streams are similar in many ways.  

They are designed to allow  a single applicant the opportunity to purchase or start a 

business in the province.  Both streams offer fast-track options whereby an applicant 

can deposit  $125,000 with the government in return for immediate permanent resident 

status.  The deposit is returned, without interest, once the terms of the performance 

agreement are met.  The Regional Business stream has a lower required net worth and 

investment but the business established under this stream must be located outside of 

the Vancouver and Abbotsford metropolitan areas. 

Business immigrants should also keep in  mind that not all business ventures 

qualify for admittance under the B.C. PNP.  The program is designed to specifically 

address the needs of the BC economy, and as  such only certain kinds of businesses 

will be considered.  These include: manufacturing and resource-extraction, tourism, 

technology and research, and exporting goods and services.

British Columbia is a popular immigration destination because of its mild climate, 

vibrant economy, and its business immigrant streams. British Columbia traditionally also 

has a large and well-integrated Chinese community. 

Alberta, on the other hand,  does not offer any PNP  business or investor 

programs.  For those who are unable to meet the B.C. PNP requirements, some other 

provinces do offer attractive options.   The Saskatchewan Entrepreneur PNP, for 

example, only requires an investment of $150,000, a net worth of $300,000, and a 

$75,000 deposit, making it a more affordable  option to the B.C.  programs.  The only 

problem is having to survive the prairie winter.  

American workers good for Alberta, says MLA

Alberta’s Employment and Immigration minister wants the federal government to make it easier for Americans to work in Alberta.

Thomas Lukasuk said there’s a 25 per cent unemployment rate among trades people in Illinois and that making it easier for them to work in Alberta would also help ease a provincial worker shortage.

“I'm being assured by United States representatives here in Canada that they will also be sending that message to Washington and encouraging President [Barack] Obama to discuss that with Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper to open up our border so that there is greater fluidity of labour going north and south,” Lukasuk said.

Lukasuk wants the U.S. to lobby Canada to allow more American workers in.

He just returned from a trip to the United States and said he would be meeting with the ambassador to the United States in the next few weeks.

Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate remains lowest in Canada

David Giles, Global Saskatoon : Friday, September 09, 2011 1:52 PM

Read it on Global News: Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate remains lowest in Canada 

Photo Credit: Brian Snyder , Reuters

Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate remains the lowest in Canada, according to the latest survey from Statistics Canada. 

The August unemployment rate in the province was 4.5 per cent, a drop of 0.4 per cent from July and down 0.3 per cent from the same period last year. 

“Our unemployment rate is by far the lowest in Canada and less than half the unemployment rate in the U.S.,” said Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris. “While other places are struggling with high unemployment, our unemployment rate keeps going down.” 

There was a decrease of 3,200 in the number of people working in the province from August 2010, a trend the NDP calls “worrisome.” 

“To have stagnant job growth in Saskatchewan while Alberta’s labour market is booming is worrisome because we will likely end up exporting many of our unemployed to our neighbouring province,” said Cam Broten, the NDP critic for Education, Employment and Immigration. 

Alberta has added 87,500 jobs from one year ago. 

Full-time employment in the province also reached an all-time high of 454,300, breaking the previous record set in July. 

In Saskatoon, the unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent, a drop of 0.3 per cent from July, the fourth lowest rate for a metropolitan area in the country. 

Regina and Guelph had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.7 per cent and Quebec City was at 4.8 per cent. 

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.3 per cent in August. 

© Shaw Media Inc., 2011. All rights reserved.

Read it on Global News: Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate remains lowest in Canada 

U.S. Unemployment: Canada Sees 'Dramatic Growth' In American Job-Seekers

By John Ferri, GlobalPost

TORONTO, Canada — Usually, you hear stories of people fleeing to America, not the other way around.

But the jittery state of the U.S. economy is driving an increasing number of its citizens to seek better prospects north of the border.

Americans are the latest economic refugees, and they’re heading to Canada.

More from GlobalPost: U.S. Economy Adds No New Jobs In August

As he prepares to campaign for re-election, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a speech Thursday night that calls for immediate stimulus spending to create jobs and improve infrastructure.

But those reforms will be difficult to make. Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have resisted any efforts to boost the economy through additional spending.

As life in the U.S. worsens, prospects in Canada seem all the brighter.

Canadian officials say the number of Americans applying for temporary work visas doubled between 2008 and 2010.

Immigration lawyers in Toronto and the border city of Windsor, right across from job-starved Detroit, say they’re seeing a dramatic growth in clients seeking to come to Canada to work, or even as permanent residents.

So, is this a reversal of fortunes on an historic scale? Has Canada become "el Norte"?

Well, not quite. The number of U.S. citizens working in Canada is, at least by global migration standards, relatively small with some 30,000 at the beginning of last year.

Still, Americans make up the second-largest group of temporary workers in Canada, behind only Filipinos, most of whom work as nannies.

More From GlobaPost: President Obama Previews Jobs Speech

Canada was one of the few to escape the 2008 financial meltdown relatively unscathed, a turn of events largely attributed to Ottawa’s long-standing refusal to deregulate the banking sector.

“I’m looking for a quiet, calm, sane, civilized society to start the next phase of my life,” said Michael, an out-of-work, white-collar professional from Michigan who is seeking a temporary visa to come to Canada.

Like several others interviewed for this article, he did not want his full name used for fear of drawing unwanted scrutiny to his application.

Though he describes himself as both patriotic and a conservative, Michael says he’s lost faith in U.S. leadership — “on both sides of the aisle” — for failing to stem the excesses that led to the collapse of Wall Street, and for the current political brinkmanship over the debt ceiling.

“I’m looking for a country where the first role of the government is to protect its citizens,” he said. “It looks to me like all [of Canada’s] three major political parties seem to have proven that they are much more responsible than our leadership.”

Workers like Michael are drawn to Canada’s lower unemployment rate — 7 percent in July compared to 9.1 in the U.S. — and sustained economic strength in major centers such as Toronto, which alone attracts an estimated 100,000 new arrivals a year.

These include not only people with temporary work visas, or those seeking permanent residency, but also increasing numbers of university students, drawn by highly-ranked Canadian schools where tuition, even at 3 or 4 times the rates for Canadians, is still a fraction of what it costs to attend many colleges in the U.S.

John Cameron’s mother lost her senior position at a bank branch in Maine in 2009 at the same time he was trying to finalize his choices for his freshman year in college.

He had his eye on American universities such as Loyola, University of Maryland, Columbia and Fordham.

His father, thinking about the finances, suggested the University of Toronto. Cameron was reluctant, but now he’s a Canadian convert.

”I really love it,” he said. “[It’s] hands-down one of the best schools in North America.”

Toronto has also become home to a couple in their mid-30s from New York City who both lost their full-time jobs in Manhattan in the wake of the 2008 crash. They now live in Canada on temporary visas.

“It’s important for us to live in a place with a lot of diversity and a good cultural sector,” said the woman, who asked that their names be withheld to avoid compromising their residency status in Canada. She says she was surprised at how quickly and efficiently they were able to qualify for Ontario health care.

Some Canadians who had considered America their adopted home are going back.

Al Brickman recently gave up on the United States after 30 years of running a Canadian-owned construction-supply business in Atlanta, Ga.

“I really did hold out for about two years,” he said, but business had bottomed-out in the economy. Brickman said that his billings, once around $100,000, had dropped on some months by as much as 95 percent.

Brickman moved home to Toronto to work at his company there, where he has a steady job as a general manager. His American wife and their 11-week-old baby, are now trying to emigrate to join him.

Since he got back, Brickman said he’s been fielding calls from American friends hoping he can get them a job up north, too.

Shawn Shepard, a legal software supervisor who was among hundreds laid off by his Manhattan law firm in 2008, is hoping a Canadian employer will sponsor him.

Shepard, who lives in Jersey City, N.J., is a regular visitor to Canada, with friends in Montreal and Toronto. With 20 years of experience, and, he admitted, “the arrogance of being a U.S. citizen,” he figured it would be a snap.

But now, he’s found himself in the classic migrant dilemma: “In order to get a work visa, you need a job offer. In order to get a job offer, you need a work visa.” And even if he were to interest a prospective employer, a visa would only be issued if the employer can show that no Canadian was qualified for the job.

“The economy up there is doing very well, despite the global slump,” Shepard wistfully told this reporter, a gainfully employed Canadian. “Your politicians didn’t put you in the same mess that ours did.”

Read more from the international news site GlobalPost.

Canadian public school boards recruit foreign students to boost coffers

TAMARA BALUJA

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Cash-strapped public school boards across the country are looking far outside their catchment areas – and even across oceans – to fill empty seats in classrooms and solve chronic funding problems.

Recruitment of foreign students to study alongside Canadian kids in kindergarten to Grade 12 is intensifying as school boards realize that parents abroad are eager for their children be educated in Canada, and willing to pay $10,000 to $14,000 a year in tuition for the privilege. Many boards have marketing directors to visit educational fairs around the world.

Patricia Gartland, international marketing director for the school district in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, brought in $16-million – 6.5 per cent of the district’s operating budget – last year by attracting foreign students. B.C. leads the pack with about 14,000 international students in 2008, but Ontario, Alberta and Quebec are also popular.

Ontario’s ministry of education said the province’s public schools generated more than $40-million in tuition fees last year.

In Edmonton, tuition fees provide roughly double what the provincial government contributes for each domestic student in Alberta, said Ann Calverley, supervisor of the local board’s international education program. About 70 per cent of the tuition fees are used to help pay for teacher salaries and language classes for new immigrant students, she added.

A 2009 study commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade put the number of international students in Canada’s public schools at 35,000 in 2008 – an increase of 44 per cent from 1998. In addition to injecting millions of dollars into the school boards, foreign students contributed $700-million to the Canadian economy in 2008.

While B.C.’s education ministry encourages school districts to offer international programs, individual boards of education make the final decision. “At the end of the day, the success of these programs is based on the efforts the districts have made to promote, implement and operate them,” said George Abbott, B.C.’s Minister of Education.

But Susan Lambert, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, said this extra cash is creating a two-tiered public education system. “Some school boards are making a lucrative profit, while others are surviving on a pittance.”

She adds that international students cannot be considered a stable source of revenue. “Public education cannot be funded in this manner … something that can wane and ebb with the economic times.”

Ms. Garland credits a targeted marketing approach to Coquitlam’s success in luring students from the Asia-Pacific region. “Most people don’t think they want to come to Canada and study in Coquitlam, of all places… in fact, I bet most people haven’t even heard of us.” She said she focuses on regions that have direct flights to Vancouver, and uses immigration opportunities and Canada’s position as a global education leader as selling points. The school boards also help the foreign students arrange accommodation, often for an additional price, and generally facilitate their integration into Canada.

In Montreal, international students have provided Lester B. Pearson School Board with a solution for vacant school properties. Seigniory Elementary school, which was closed in 2006 due to declining enrolment,was converted into a dormitory for 96 international students, each paying around $11,500 a year to attend classes. A second school is set to undergo the same transformation.

Sonic Vheng, a Grade 11 student who has been studying at Pearson board since 2010 and lives in the Seigniory dormitories, said he enjoys going to school in Canada.

“I want to go to university here, and it’s a much better education here than in China,” he said.

Ontario’s public schools reported more than 3,300 international students in the 2009-10 school year. The Toronto District School Board hired Barbara Brown as its marketing director in 2010.

“Our biggest asset is that we have this ethnically diverse community, so many international students will feel comfortable here,” said Ms. Brown, the board’s chief enrolment officer.

Dasha Boichenko, who came to Canada from Kazakhstan in 2008 to attend Grade 10 in Coquitlam, said she had not planned to stay for more than a year, but felt comfortable here and chose Simon Fraser University for post-secondary.

“I have a certain level of stability here in Vancouver. Moving somewhere else meant I would have to start all over again,” she said.