Revamped Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) Set to Re-Open in January 2024

Canada’s only (passive) investor immigration program has been closed since 2019. However, the Quebec government recently accounted that the QIIP is set to re-open in January 2024 with significant updates to the program. One of the biggest changes will be that candidates will require strong oral French skills and a one-year residency in Quebec in order to be eligible for the program.It is the government’s intention that these requirements will allow immigrants to integrate into the province’s business community and make it easier for them to contribute to Quebec’s economy.

The program will still require the candidate to have a net worth of 2 million and at least 2 years of management experience in the last 5 years. The updated requirements of the program include the following:

• 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 following the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI’s) notice of intent to issue a selection certificate (PCSQ);
• 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;
• 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, within 120 days of the acceptance decision

As such investor immigration in Canada will now be restricted to those candidates with good French speaking abilities as well as those that have an interest in living in Quebec (at least temporarily).