Is Canada still open for Business Immigration?
Yes, of course. Canada is the second largest country in the world in land mass and boasts a 36 million population. It is also ranked ninth out of two hundred countries, as one of the best places to live according to the United Nations and their Human Development Index[1] (UN, HDI). Besides this though, there are three main categories that makes it the popular destination that it is for investor immigrants. Canada is politically stable, it has a high standard of living when compared to other countries and the economy rebounds relatively steadily after recessions. Other than this, Canada has access to the world’s largest markets for goods and services, ensuring that Canada always has a large and positive trade agreement between participating countries.
What Are The Benefits for Investing in Canada?
If you are an investor immigrant looking to set up a business, rather than obtaining passive investment income, then Canada is the right place. The business environment is extremely welcoming and according to Forbes, it is the “second best country in the G20 to do business”[2] (Badenhausen, Canada Trounces) with. Plus, it helps that the Canada’s workforce is highly educated, with over “half of the working-population having a tertiary level education”,[3] (Stat Can, Education Indicators) meaning that it won’t take long for new businesses to find highly-educated people to work its floors. Other benefits include:
- Canada has a steady growth record. Between the years 2006 to 2015, Canada was the leading country for growth among all G7 countries.
- Foreign investors will have access to NAFTA and EU markets through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement[4] which came into force as of September 21st, 2017. The trade agreement is progressive and promotes ambitious trade initiatives. It essentially opens up the EU markets as the agreement works to eliminate and reduce exporting and importing barriers between markets.
- Businesses taxes, don’t cost nearly as much as they do in other G7 countries. In addition to this, business costs are also on the lower end of the scale.
- Canada’s banks are heavily regulated. This regulation ensures strong balance sheets, strong capitalization and conservative practices.
- Canada has multiple immigrant investor programs, including: the Federal Start-Up Visa Program, the Self-Employed Program and various provincial and territorial business investment programs like the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, Quebec Entrepreneur, Quebec Self-Employed Worker Program, Ontario, Manitoba, BC programs are few of the programs available. Now some of these programs are capped out, but do run on availability cycles on first in, first service basis. To see more about these programs and their benefits, please visit: https://oneworldimmigration.ca/our-services/business-immigrants/ and https://oneworldimmigration.ca/provincial-nominee/.
Plus, being a foreign investor in Canada means that there are tons of business options and types available to pursue. Canada allows: corporations, trusts, joint ventures, branch operations and even partnerships. Although there are several factors that determine which type of business structure is implemented, such as financing methods, liabilities and tax ramifications, it means that foreign investors have a lot of options right from the start. The most common though is corporations as there are some large benefits to going this route, namely: no obligation to file financial statements to governments, shareholders’ identity is not in the public record and some provinces do not have any residency requirements for the board of directors.
Canada’s Standard of Living – Other Reasons to Immigrate to Canada
Canada is considered one of the best places to live, not just because of its trade capabilities or investment opportunities, but because of the benefits that immigrants get when they have fully migrated. Some of these benefits include: full migration for the family, free education and health care, eligibility for Canadian Citizenship (within three years of arrival), dual citizenship and entitlement to government benefit programs.
For foreign investors, they get treated as any other immigrant coming into Canada in terms of access to the standard of living. Meaning, even as an immigrant investor, you will still have access to education and free health care, minimal government regulations on businesses and access to United States, Mexico and EU trade markets. In addition to this, immigrants will have access to:
- Health Care System: Canada is renowned for its health care system as most services are available for free to residents of Canada. Permitting that you become registered with the national health insurance program, hospital visits, clinic visits, and most treatments are free.
- Education System: Education in public schools is free for all children up till grade twelve.
- Social Welfare: Permitting that you can prove that assistance is required, all Canadian residents are entitled to an allowance from the government if it can be proven that a job cannot be held or that they cannot support themselves.
[1] “Human Development Reports.” Human Development Index (HDI) | Human Development Reports, hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi.
[2] Badenhausen, Kurt. “Canada Trounces U.S. In Best Countries For Business.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 Oct. 2011, www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/10/05/canada-trounces-u-s-in-best-countries-for-business/#62dcbdf03f9f.
[3] “Education Indicators in Canada: Fact Sheets.” Statcan.gc.ca, 27 Nov. 2015, www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-599-x/81-599-x2012008-eng.htm.
[4] Government of Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Deputy Minister Corporate Planning, Finance and Information Technology, Deputy Minister of International Trade, Area Management Office – Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch, Information Management and Technology. “Canada-European Union: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).” GAC, 21 Sept. 2017, www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/ceta-aecg/index.aspx?lang=eng.
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