Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - April 2012
As the Canadian government continues to seek methods of improving the country�s out-dated immigrant investor program, a new idea has surfaced wherein the backing of Canadian investors could be grounds for admission.
The idea has been raised and circulated by members of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who says they are looking for ways to better attract the best and brightest young innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world.
Under the previous system, which has been in place since the 1970s, applicants were chosen based upon a $300,000 minimum investment. This resulted in many immigrants opening small kiosks and restaurants, which, Minister Kenney argues, is not what will benefit Canada most in the long run.
�Entrepreneurs need to dream big and they can�t be afraid to take risks,� said Kenney.�We�d like to attract more of these bright innovators and entrepreneurs, who can create companies, hi-tech and other value-added businesses, that have the potential to create hundreds of jobs.�
The new rules would allow an applicant with a good idea to seek backing from Canadian investors. That way, it would seem, the best new ideas and innovations would be able to come to Canada, even if the applicant themselves did not have $300,000.
�You get a world-class entrepreneur regardless of geography or nationality and can put him on a Canadian-invested idea. So we�ll be able to expand the number of great ideas,� said Kevin O�Leary, a well-known investor and business analyst in Canadian media today. �This is a fantastic idea for investors like me . . . I look at global concepts, bring them here and make them ours.�
Source: Toronto Star
