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Government working with Canadian business leaders on a new immigrant investment pilot

May 23, 2014 — Toronto — Today, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander met with business leaders in Canada’s financial capital to discuss plans for a new immigrant investor pilot program that will make significant investments in Canada and fuel the growth of our economy.

The government is seeking advice from business leaders across the country on the key elements of a new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital pilot led by Industry Minister James Moore. Today’s meetings in Toronto are the first of a series of stakeholder roundtables that will be held in Halifax, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver over the coming weeks.

These roundtables will advance the government’s proposal in Economic Action Plan 2014 to terminate the outdated federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) and Federal Entrepreneur (EN) Program, eliminate their longstanding application backlogs, and create new innovative pilot programs that meet Canada’s economic needs.  

Quick facts

• In Economic Action Plan (EAP) 2014, the government announced that it will terminate the IIP and EN programs and eliminate their application backlogs.
• The new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital pilot will be more focused and effective ensuring immigrants who come to Canada deliver real benefits to the Canadian economy.
• The current IIP has an inventory of more than 62,000 persons, larger than any other economic immigration program. At current levels, it would take more than six years to process this inventory.

Quote

“Our government is committed to attracting business people with the right skills and bringing in new investment capital that has a real impact on our economy. We look forward to the launch of a new Immigrant Investor Venture Capital pilot that will add true value and create a win-win scenario for both Canada and newcomers interested in making real investments in our great country.”

Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister

“Supporting Canada’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and business startups is a priority for our government. That is why we have taken action to update programs and reach out through consultations to build a successful plan that takes advantage of the benefits Canada has to offer: ambitious entrepreneurs, a strong economy and a sound banking system. A key objective of our government is to ensure that capital is available to help finance the creation and growth of Canada’s most promising enterprises.”

James Moore, Minister of Industry Canada

Related products

• Building a Fast and Flexible Immigration System: Government to eliminate backlog-ridden and inefficient Investor and Entrepreneur Programs
• Economic Action Plan 2014

Contacts

Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca

Jake Enwright
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Industry
613-995-9001

Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
media-relations@ic.gc.ca

Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.