Reopening of Quebec Investor Program

Today Mona and Rebecca are joined by Canadian immigration expert Patrick McCarthy to discuss the imminent return of the Quebec Immigration Investor Program (“QIIP”). Patrick has over 25 years of experience in Canadian immigration, so his authoritative insight is invaluable to understanding what the renewed program will mean for Quebec, Canada, EB-5 and the US Immigrant Program along with the rest of the world. Canada has a long, fascinating immigration history dating back centuries, and now the governments of Canada and Quebec are opening up even more pathways to Canada. Part of Canada’s storied immigration history is its pioneering of investment immigration. The QIIP was first established in the 1980s, about a decade prior to EB-5 in the US. In this episode, This podcast explores the inner workings of this investment program, what led to its 2018/ 2019 collapse, and what about the QIIP will be different in this new iteration. With new regulations set forth, the QIIP is tightening the expectations on applicants, to the chagrin of some critics. Our experts discuss the source and validity of these criticisms and get into the details of just what the new applicant requirements are. But that’s not all! There’s been more exciting news out of Canada regarding its electronic travel authorization (“eTA”) program. 13 more countries have been added to the list of those eligible to apply for an eTA. You’ll discover the benefits of the eTA and gain an understanding of just what its purpose is and hear about some of Canada’s other immigration programs and options. Some highlights from the episode: Patrick: And I remember even in high school, it being a country of 25 million. And so our population has really grown over the last 25, 30 years, and the largest component of that is immigration. Canadians, for whatever reason, we’re not having a lot of babies. And so immigration is a big driver for our population and for our economy and for our institutions and organizations. And it’s really an important part of the mosaic, as we say, of what Canada is today. Patrick: I’ve always been optimistic…about the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program. It brings a lot of value, not just in terms of capital it brings, but also the people it attracts and what’s done with that capital in Quebec.  And so we were always very optimistic that the program would come back. But we recognized also that the government wanted to modernize the program. I guess that’s the right word… revise it in a way, in a meaningful way…It hadn’t been revised in probably 20 years. So we knew those changes were coming.         Patrick: Yeah, I think anytime you remove barriers that stop people from visiting Canada, spending money here, doing business here, I think it’s a positive thing. And again, we shouldn’t make it sound like there’s no verifications or anything that are going to happen on people before they come… it just sort of removes some of that duplication. And when they do apply for an eTA, an eTA is not automatic. There is a certain amount of screening and verifications, although much simpler and much faster. But there is a certain amount that does happen anyway, similar to when people apply for ESTAs to visit the United States.         About our Guest Patrick McCarthy is the Director of the Immigrant Investor Program at Sherbrooke Street Capital.  Patrick is one of the most experienced QIIP professionals, having spent the last 25+ years working with immigration p