Increased workload under the local endorsement requirement of the Prince Edward Island Business Impact Program is causing problems for small towns.
Officials say they are inundated with extra workload after 14 P.E.I. communities were given responsibility for endorsing applications from entrepreneurs and investors.
It means local officials must receive applications and conduct interviews, before deciding whether to endorse a candidate for Canadian permanent residence.
The province requires candidates to visit the community where they plan to set up their business and present a business plan.
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The local endorsement requirement is part of a series of changes to the P.E.I. Provincial Nomination Program, which also saw an Express of Interest system introduced for 2018.
Under the new system, candidates create an account and submit a profile, before the highest scoring candidates are invited to apply. Successful candidates receive a provincial nomination before applying to the federal government for permanent residence. Two draws have been conducted so far in 2018, with a third expected in April. An endorsement from a rural area is worth 35 points, compared to 10 points from the cities of Charlottetown, Stratford and Cornwall.
The P.E.I. Business Impact Category includes three streams: 100% Ownership, Partial Ownership and Work Permit, each with slightly different requirements.
Business Impact Category Requirements
1) 100% Ownership Program:
- Complete and submit all required immigration forms
- Submit all other required documents
- Possess a minimum personal net worth of $600,000. This net worth must have been acquired legally.
- Possess at least a high school education
- Aged between 21 and 59 years of age at the time of application
- Have previous experience and significant talent in business management
- Scored a minimum of 4.0 on the IELTS within the last 2 years
- Provide a detailed business plan. The plan must involve the applicant owning 100% of a PEI business. The business must also be eligible under PEI business immigration program requirements. For a general overview of PEI business immigration, click here.
- Provide active and on-going management of the business from within Prince Edward Island.
- Sign an escrow agreement committing to give a deposit of $200,000 to the PEI government until all program requirements are met. After all requirements are met, the money will be returned to the applicant.
- Make a total investment in a PEI business of at least $150,000.
2) Partial Ownership Program:
- Complete and submit all required immigration forms.
- Submit all other required documents.
- Possess a minimum personal net worth of $600,000. This net worth must have been acquired legally.
- Possess at least a high school education.
- Aged between 21 and 59 years of age at the time of application.
- Have previous experience and significant talent in business management.
- Scored a minimum of 4.0 on the IELTS within the last 2 years.
- Provide a detailed business plan. The plan must involve the applicant owning at least a third of the equity of a PEI business. The applicant will be permitted to own less than a third equity in the business provided s/he makes an equity investment in the business of at least $1 million. The business must also be eligible under PEI program requirements.
- Provide active and on-going management of the business from within Prince Edward Island.
- Sign an escrow agreement committing to make a deposit of $200,000 to the PEI government until all program requirements are met. After all requirements are met, the money will be returned to the applicant.
- Make a total investment in a PEI business of at least $150,000.
3) Work Permit Program:
- Complete and submit all required immigration forms
- Submit all other required documents
- Apply to the Canadian government for a work permit that would allow the applicant to work for the business in which they will invest into and manage.
- Possess a minimum personal net worth of $600,000. This net worth must have been acquired legally and legitimately.
- Possess at least a high school education
- Have previous experience and significant talent in business management.
- Score a minimum of 4.0 on the IELTS within the last 2 years
- Provide a detailed business plan. The business must be eligible under PEI program requirements.
- Provide active and on-going management of the business from within Prince Edward Island.
- Make a total investment in a PEI business of at least $150,000.
The 100% Ownership and Partial Ownership streams have caused controversy over the $200,000 deposit requirement.
Critics say candidates are using the streams as a back door to permanent residence, happy to forfeit the $200,000 with no intention of setting up a business. The P.E.I. government withheld $18 million in deposits in 2016.
Other provincial business programs have moved exclusively to two-step business programs, where a candidate is initially issued with a work permit to establish their business. Permanent residence is then issued up to two years later, when the requirements for establishing the business have been met.