Quebec investor program: Canadian permanent residency for a C$1M investment and C$200k contribution

Is there a Canada golden visa?

Not in the European sense. Canada has no federal program that grants residence for buying property or making a passive investment. The federal Immigrant Investor Program was abolished in 2014, and the federal business routes that relied on entrepreneurs (Start-up Visa and Self-Employed Persons) are now closed or paused to new applicants^[8][9]. What remains is Québec's program. Under the Canada–Québec Accord, Québec selects its own economic immigrants; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) then decides permanent residence on medical, security and criminality grounds^[10].

Legal basis and who runs it

The current version was created by the regulation amending the Règlement sur l'immigration au Québec, published in the Gazette officielle on 8 November 2023, with the business programs (investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed workers) in force from 1 January 2024^[27]. It replaced the old passive model, suspended in 2019, in which investors placed C$1.2 million and many never settled in Québec. The Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI) receives and decides applications. The C$1 million goes to a participating financial intermediary and is guaranteed by the Gouvernement du Québec; the C$200,000 contribution goes to Investissement Québec Immigrants Investisseurs Inc.^[2]

The key design choice is that selection is not final until you have actually lived in Québec. You first receive a notice of intention to select, use it to obtain a federal open work permit, complete a 12-month stay within two years, and only then receive the CSQ^[2][4]. That makes the program closer to a structured relocation than to a residence-by-investment card like the Portugal fund-based residence permit.

Canada golden visa requirements 2026

The official conditions, last updated on 6 August 2026, are^[2]:

• Net worth of at least C$2,000,000, lawfully acquired and traceable. It may be shared with an accompanying spouse or common-law partner. Gifts received in the six months before applying do not count.
• A C$1,000,000 investment for five years through a participating financial intermediary, guaranteed by Québec and repaid without interest within 30 days after the term.
• A C$200,000 financial contribution that is not refundable. Both sums are paid within 120 days of the ministry's request, not on filing.
• At least two years of management experience in the five years before applying. Experience in payday lending, cheque cashing, pledge loans or the sex industry does not count.
• Education: at least a diploma equivalent to the Québec secondary school diploma, or a full-time vocational or college program of at least one year.
• Spoken French at level 7 of the Échelle québécoise (roughly upper-intermediate), proved by TCF, TEF, DELF or DALF results less than two years old, or an accepted French-language secondary diploma. Native speakers must also prove it.
• A stay in Québec of at least 12 months within two years of the work permit being issued. At least six months must be completed by the principal applicant personally; the other six may be completed by the applicant or the spouse.
• Attestation of learning about democratic and Québec values, obtained within 60 days of the request, for the applicant, a spouse aged 16 or over and children aged 18 or over.

Then come the federal admissibility checks at the permanent residence stage: medical examination, police certificates and biometrics^[6]. Source of funds is where most files are won or lost. Several advisers report that the ministry asks for supplementary evidence when bank statements do not show how wealth was built, so prepare a documented narrative of business income, sales and inheritances before filing.

Financing: before 2019 most investors financed the investment through a bank loan arranged by the intermediary. Some advisers say financing is still offered under the 2024 rules^[28], but the official conditions do not mention it, so confirm with a participating intermediary before relying on it.

Canada golden visa cost

The sunk cost is smaller than the headline. Of the C$1.2 million, the C$1 million investment is guaranteed by Québec and returned within 30 days after the five-year term^[2]. What you actually spend is the C$200,000 contribution, about C$23,500 in government fees for a typical family, professional fees, and the return you give up on C$1 million for five years. At a 4% alternative yield that opportunity cost is about C$217,000, so a realistic all-in figure is roughly C$450,000 to C$500,000 before advisers and relocation.

Two cash-flow points matter. First, nothing is paid on filing except the C$18,241 fee; the investment and contribution fall due within 120 days of the ministry's request^[2][3]. Second, the money can sit with Québec for a long time before you receive PR. Radio-Canada reported in April 2026 that Québec held more than C$768 million lent by 960 investors still waiting for permanent residence, more than 500 of them for over five years^[26]. Those were mostly pre-2024 files, but they show that the five-year term does not guarantee a decision within five years.

Against other programs, Canada sits at the expensive end. Compare the EB-5 investor green card at US$800,000 in a targeted employment area, or the Panama Qualified Investor residence from US$300,000 under Executive Decree 17. Our ranking of the lowest-cost residence programs shows the full spread.

The Québec application covers a spouse or common-law partner and dependent children, with no extra Québec fee for them^[3]. The net worth may be shared with the spouse, but the spouse must also show the lawful origin of their own assets, even if they are not needed to reach C$2 million^[2]. The spouse may also complete up to six of the twelve months of the Québec stay, which helps a principal applicant who still runs a business abroad.

Federally, each family member pays the PR fee (C$1,590 for a spouse, C$270 per dependent child) and is landed with the principal applicant^[6]. The investor's open work permit allows work for any employer in Québec^[7]; family members apply for their own permits during the stay, and children attend school in Québec. Under Québec's Charter of the French Language, children of new immigrants generally attend French-language public schools, which is worth planning for if your children are older.

Adults in the family must obtain the democratic values attestation (spouses aged 16 or over and children aged 18 or over)^[2]. Each family member keeps their own permanent residency obligation once landed.

The sequence below applies to the Québec Investor Program, the only capital-based route open in October 2026.

Canada taxes on residence. You usually become a tax resident from the day you settle and create significant residential ties, such as a home or a spouse in Canada, and from then on you report worldwide income^[17]. Because the program requires a 12-month stay, most investors become Canadian tax residents during the work-permit period, well before PR.

• Step-up on arrival. Most property you own when you become resident (taxable Canadian property, such as Canadian real estate, is an exception) is treated as acquired at fair market value on that date, so gains accrued before immigration are not taxed in Canada^[17]. Get valuations at arrival.
• High rates. In Québec the 2026 top combined federal and provincial rate is 53.31% on ordinary income and 26.65% on capital gains, from taxable income above C$258,482^[20].
• Foreign reporting. Form T1135 applies once the total cost of specified foreign property exceeds C$100,000, with cost measured at fair market value on arrival; it is not required for the year you first become resident^[19].
• Departure tax. When you leave, most property is deemed sold at fair market value. Canadian real estate and registered plans are exempt, as is property you owned on arrival if you were resident for 60 months or less in the previous ten years^[18].

Canada has no wealth tax and no separate inheritance tax, but death is a deemed disposition of capital property. Before PR, buying a home is also restricted: the federal ban on residential purchases by non-Canadians runs until 1 January 2027, although a work-permit holder with at least 183 days left on the permit may buy one property^[21]. Ottawa is reviewing the ban ahead of its expiry rather than planning a straight extension^[22].

Québec investors receive full permanent residence from the start, with no conditional period and no requirement to keep the investment after landing (the C$1 million simply matures after five years). To keep PR you must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days in every rolling five-year period^[15]. Days anywhere in Canada count, but leaving Québec soon after landing runs against the commitment made at selection and should be discussed with counsel.

Permanent residents can apply to naturalise after 1,095 days of physical presence in the five years before applying, with pre-PR days on a work permit counting as half days up to 365^[16]. Language, test and fee details, and how long the whole path takes, are on our Canadian investor citizenship guide. Our comparison of residence programs by speed to a second nationality puts this rule in context.

If French level 7 is out of reach, the remaining options are business routes, not passive investment.

Québec Entrepreneur and Self-Employed programs

Stream 2 of the Entrepreneur Program requires C$600,000 net worth, a business plan, at least 25% of the equity, and start-up or operating spending of at least C$300,000 in the Montréal area or C$150,000 elsewhere, within two years of the work permit^[11]. The Self-Employed Worker Program asks for C$100,000 net worth and a C$25,000 to C$50,000 deposit^[12]. Both require French level 7 as well, and the Québec fee is C$1,272 for the principal applicant and C$201 for each accompanying family member^[13]. They share the same 100–200 business CSQ allocation^[5].

Provincial entrepreneur streams

Most provinces run entrepreneur streams under the Provincial Nominee Program: you start or buy a business on a work permit, meet performance targets, then receive a nomination for PR. British Columbia's Base stream, for example, needs C$600,000 net worth, a C$200,000 personal investment and one new full-time job^[14], and selects by points in periodic draws^[30]. Ontario's entrepreneur stream closed on 4 November 2024^[33]. These streams are active businesses, not investments, and failure to perform can cost you the nomination.

Federal routes

The Start-up Visa stopped accepting new applicants on 31 December 2025, except holders of a 2025 commitment certificate who could file until 30 June 2026; IRCC's page describes the program as paused^[8][9]. Holders already in Canada on a Start-up Visa work permit may extend it while PR is processed^[9]. The Self-Employed Persons Program remains paused, and the replacement entrepreneur pilot announced for 2026 had no published criteria on 2 October 2026^[8][29]. Track the wind-down in our tracker of closed investor programs.

• 8 November 2023: Québec published the regulation reforming its economic programs; the new business programs took effect on 1 January 2024^[27].
• 1 January 2024: the investor program reopened with the C$1M investment, C$200k contribution, French level 7 and 12-month stay, and the T10 open work permit became available^[2][7].
• 19 and 31 December 2025: IRCC closed the optional Start-up Visa work permit and then new Start-up Visa applications, and kept Self-Employed Persons paused^[8].
• 1 January 2026: the Québec investor fee became C$18,241^[3].
• 2026 plans: Québec plans 100–200 business CSQs and 450–550 business-class admissions; Ottawa plans 500 federal business admissions a year to 2028^[5][10].
• 14 April 2026: Radio-Canada reported 960 investors still waiting for PR, holding more than C$768 million of loans^[26].
• 6 August 2026: latest update to the official investor conditions^[2].
• 3 September 2026: IRCC's published time for Québec business class was 75 months^[25].
• 30 September 2026: Radio-Canada reported that investor applications had fallen from 2,234 in 2016 to 5 in 2025, that only one investor had lent to Québec since January 2026, and that the business-grant program funded by investor money (PIIAE) runs in its current form until 31 March 2028, when it will be evaluated^[32].

Watch next: Québec's 2027 immigration plan, usually tabled in the autumn; the federal entrepreneur pilot's rules; whether IRCC separates new QIIP files from the legacy queue; and the post-2027 replacement for the foreign buyer ban^[22].

It suits families who genuinely want to live in Québec, already speak French or will learn it, have at least C$2 million of clean, documentable wealth, and value Canadian schools, health care and long-term status over speed. It also suits investors comfortable treating C$1 million as a five-year, zero-yield government-guaranteed bond.

Look elsewhere if you want a residence card without moving, cannot reach French level 7, need status within a year or two, or want to avoid worldwide taxation at Canadian rates. A permit that needs little or no presence, such as the UAE golden visa from AED 2 million in property, or a US route, fits those goals better.

• United States: the EB-5 green card from US$800,000 in a targeted employment area, the E-2 treaty investor visa for nationals of treaty countries, or the US Gold Card at US$1 million plus a US$15,000 fee.
• Panama: the Panama Qualified Investor program, from US$300,000 for first-sale property and US$500,000 for resale property, securities or a state-bank deposit under Executive Decree 17.
• Costa Rica: investor residence in Costa Rica at US$150,000 to US$200,000: Law 9996's US$150,000 window ended on 14 July 2026 and advisers disagree on which figure now applies.
• Uruguay and Paraguay: Uruguay residence needs no investment at all, and Paraguay investor residence starts at US$70,000 on the productive route, while the 2026 Investor Pass needs US$150,000 or more.
• Further afield: New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa and Australia's National Innovation Visa for investors and founders in the Commonwealth.

Our residence-by-investment hub compares every program by budget, presence rule and timeline.