In February the Canadian government abruptly announced that it will be cancelling its immigrant investor program, leaving tens of thousands of outstanding applications angry and ready to sue the Canadian immigration program. The Canadian government explains that instead they will announce a new plan for a more focused and effective program for immigrant investors.
The cancellation of the program was announced after a series of reports were published in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post revealing the extensive amount of rich Chinese applications causing an enormous backlog.
As a result the Canadian government had stopped accepting new applications in July 2012. As of last July, there were 66,423 individuals in the immigrant investment backlog, of which 50,131 had been filed in Hong Kong, the newspaper reported, citing immigration data.
Before its cancellation, Canada’s immigration program was widely considered to be one of the easiest ways for foreigners to gain permanent residency abroad. Unlike other programs in the United States or Europe, those looking to immigrate to Canada were only required to make a “five-year, interest-free loan to the government of $400,000 or $800,000, depending on the time of application, and show a net worth of $1.6 million Canadian.”
According to a spokesperson from the Canadian immigration department “Canada has a proud tradition of welcoming immigrants from all over the world and China has been among the top source countries for Canadian immigration for more than a decade,” Adding that it would “continue to rank as such.”
[image Banff, Alberta]
