On June 26, 2010, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that the Government of Canada temporarily closed applications for the immigrant investor program. Effective June 26, 2010, the Government of Canada announced that it will cease accepting new investor applications. This said, any application postmarked or received before June 26, 2010 will be considered.

The Government has stated that it wishes to prevent a flood of applications from being submitted in advance of newly proposed eligibility criteria for the immigrant investor program. Proposed regulatory changes will require new investors to have a personal net worth of $1.6M, up from $800,000, and make an investment of $800,000, up from $400,000.

Canada’s current criteria for investors are the lowest in the world, and have not been changed since 1999. As a result the program draws a larger number of applicants than can be admitted every year under the immigration plan, and processing times are increasing. These proposed changes are designed to keep Canada’s investor program waiting times short.

“Canada needs investor immigrants,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.”

The Quebec Investor program is still open. For more information, please visit http://www.canadavisa.com/quebec-business-immigration.html.