New criteria for the Immigrant Investor Program come into force on January 1, 2024

The Minister of Immigration, Francization, and Integration of Quebec (MIFI) confirmed yesterday the reopening of its Immigrant Investor Program (PIIQ) on January 1, 2024.

Unfortunately, few changes have been introduced to the Regulation versus the publication from June 7. The final regulation will be published on November 8, which will allow us to have all the details. In the meantime, here is the summary of the new criteria.

New criteria for the main applicant (“Investor”):

• Have a net worth of at least C$2 million (including spouse’s assets);
• Have acquired at least 2 years of management experience in the 5 years preceding the submission of the application.
• Demonstrate minimum proficiency in spoken French, which corresponds to level 7 on the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes;
• Have a diploma obtained before the date of submission of the application and corresponding at least, in Quebec, to a secondary school diploma;
• Have been issued a work permit after the date of the Minister’s notice of intention to render a selection decision;
• Within 2 years of the date of this work permit issuance, the principal applicant must have resided in Quebec for a period of at least 6 months and he or his spouse or de facto spouse included in the application has resided in Quebec for another period of at least 6 months;
• No later than 120 days following the date of the Minister’s request for this purpose, make a 5-year term risk-free investment, at 0% interest of C$1 million with IQ Immigrants Investisseurs Inc. and a non-refundable financial contribution of $200,000 to this company, through a financial intermediary*.

* New clarification vs June 7 draft Regulation: The investment and the financial contribution may be reimbursed in advance according to certain criteria.

Other technical information:

• Investors must still enter into an investment agreement with an authorized Financial Intermediary, (such as AURAY Capital);
• Financing of the mandatory investment remains possible (we will get back to you with the details in due time);
• The selection grid is abolished;
• The notion of quota is eliminated (no limitation on the number of applications);
• There is no time limit for submitting applications;
• Processing fees are currently CA$16,874 but will be indexed in 2024.

Quebec immigration plan – 2024

• The multi-year immigration plan for the years 2024 and 2025 as well as the Quebec immigration plan for the year 2024 were also tabled yesterday in the National Assembly.
• For 2024 and 2025, the MIFI notably plans to maintain immigration targets at 50,000 annual admissions.
• For businesspeople (Investors, Entrepreneurs, Self-employed workers), the MIFI plan for 2024 is as follows:

1. If we take the average, i.e., 400 people, this represents ±115 files selected (at the rate of 3.5 people per file) for Investors, Entrepreneurs and Self-Employed Workers.

2. Regular admission.

3. Special plan to clear the inventory so that the new files can be processed quickly.

According to this data, IRCC should have finalized the inventory of businesspeople files over the next two years.

As you know, one of the main purposes of this new regulation is to ensure that candidates have a good knowledge of the French language, which is a crucial skill for successful integration into the Quebec society and job market.

Although the new requirements seem too strict for the Immigrant Investors category, considering that historically most candidates in this category are non-French speaking, it offers a unique opportunity to people who meet these linguistic criteria but do not qualify for other programs or qualify but do not want to take a job or start a business.

We invite you to contact us if you have potential clients who could qualify under the new regulations.

Published on November 3, 2023