The Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) of Canada ceased to exist in 2014.
The Immigrant Investor Program, which added to the economic growth of Canada, provided an easy way for people interested in doing business in the country, along with their families, to immigrate to Canada and obtain Permanent Residency visas and citizenship, indefinitely.
The Immigrant Investor Program is intended to draw eligible business people who, by making a substantial investment in the economy of Canada, will contribute to the growth of Canada.
The IIP invited affluent immigrants with net assets of at least $1.6 million to loan $800,000 to the federal government, money to be reimbursed five years later. To finance economic development through various measures, the interest received on the loan will then be redistributed between the provinces.
In return for this loan, immigrants are expected to receive an unrestricted visa, permanent residency and, finally, Canadian citizenship.
In 2010, the terms of the IIP were updated before its eventual downfall. The federal government noted that the net worth and expenditure requirements of the program had not been revised since 1999 and that the figures demanded by Canada were considerably smaller than those of other countries' comparable programs. This amendment increased from $800,000 to $1.6 million the minimum required net worth, and from $400,000 to $800,000 the minimum investment.
It has long been regarded by IIP critics as a method by which the super-rich are able to buy their way into the country, enabling them to circumvent those following more traditional routes efficiently.
"This is not a program that has met its objectives. Canadian citizenship and permanent residency are not for sale”, said Minister of Immigration Chris Alexander in a statement on the reforms.
In 2012, the federal government eventually placed a hold on the program and officially scrapped it in 2014.