The Quebec Government has temporarily suspended immigrant investor program (IIP) for review of the scheme. The intake of IIP applications will not be accepted until Jan 1, 2024.
It is widely expected the program will likely reopen in early 2024 once the review of the scheme is fully completed. One other reason lead to the suspension of the scheme is the pending three year backlog. The Quebec IIP is one of the oldest and longest running golden visa schemes in the world. When the scheme first started in 1986, the investment required was only $250,000
New Requirements
In 2018, Quebec increased the minimum investments to C$1.2m. To apply for Quebec IIP scheme, a candidate must intend to live in Quebec and must be selected by Quebec.
- Invest C$1.2m for 5 years in risk free bonds (financing possible US$ 250,000)
- Prove net assets of C$1.5m in assets
- Have management experience for at least two years in the five years preceding the application for selection.
- Must also score points to qualify
Pending Applications
Nearly 20,000 applications for Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is currently pending for processing as of 2019. This is also one of the reasons for suspension of scheme.
Quotas
QIIP has limited quota, set aside of 1900 applications, of which 1200 set aside for Chinese. Francophone speakers are not subjected to any quota and get priority processing of applications.
Slow processing times
The waiting times for Quebec immigrant investor scheme is more than 5 years.
- Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ): 9 to 12 months
- Federal processing times: 54 months (Economic immigration investor class)
Quebec is expected to fully overhaul the scheme with new conditions before launching in 2024.
