Immigration to Vancouver

Business Immigration
Vancouver Immigration

Immigration to Vancouver

Immigration to Vancouver and other cities of British Columbia under the business immigration component of the BC provincial immigration program has become increasingly attractive in recent years to business immigrants from all around the world.

It should also be noted that the province of British Columbia and especially Vancouver, which ranks among the top ten most liveable cities in the world, is a desired destination for many business immigrants who were originally accepted under immigration programs of other Canadian provinces and territories. Quebec Investor program is a classic example of this trend. For many years the program has let wealthy immigrants effectively purchase permanent residence status in Canada by investing $800,000 to Quebec, but the statistics indicate that most of them eventually settle outside Quebec and especially in British Columbia.

Mobility rights

Despite the controversy, Immigration Minister John McCallum in June of 2016 confirmed that Immigration Canada would not pursue changes. It appears that there is no interest in shutting down Quebec Investor program or taking steps to make wealthy immigrants reside in Quebec for a certain period of time. The Minister referred to the constitutional mobility rights of Canadians: as soon as you become a permanent resident the Constitution allows you to live wherever you want to in Canada (http://vancouversun.com/news/politics/feds-wont-fight-sweetheart-quebec-immigration-program-despite-b-c-fallout). This does not mean, however, that in the near future Immigration Canada will not come up with a new formula to control the movement of immigrants after they settle in a particular province.

Why Vancouver?

Vancouver is at the top of the list of the world’s best cities. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/08/daily-chart-14), the most liveable cities in the world are

  1. Melbourne, Australia
  2. Vienna, Austria
  3. Vancouver, Canada
  4. Toronto, Canada
  5. Calgary, Canada
  6. Adelaide, Australia
  7. Perth, Australia
  8. Auckland, New Zealand
  9. Helsinki, Finland
  10. Hamburg, Germany

The above ten have been selected out of 140 cities around the world. Each city is assessed against such factors as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

Immigrating to Vancouver

If you wish to immigrate to Vancouver, you don’t need to be a business immigrant. There are other ways to immigrate. For example, you may qualify under one of the Express Entry programs in the economic class, or you may come to Vancouver as an international student or a temporary foreign worker and then apply for permanent residence from within Canada. If you are an international student choosing a school and a province for your studies, consider British Columbia. Upon graduation, you may not only qualify under one the Federal immigration programs, but you may also be selected for permanent residence by the Provincial Nominee Program of British Columbia, which is Canada’s one of the most efficient provincial nominee programs.

Studying in British Columbia

According to the recent research data published by BBC, Canada is found among the top 10 countries in the world for mathematics, science and reading literacy. Canada’s youth are considered to be among the best educated in the world and are far ahead of the US and European countries. Interestingly, Canada does not even have a national education system. Education is the jurisdiction of the provinces. Three of the Canadian provinces, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, are found in the top five places for science in the world, at the same level as Singapore and Japan. The research data shows that the success of the Canadian education system may be based a strong sense of fairness and equal access. Within three years after coming to Canada, the children of new immigrants demonstrate high academic performance.

Business Immigration to British Columbia

If, however, you do not qualify to immigrate in the economic class because of age or lack of English proficiency, and at the same time you have business experience as well as possess sufficient funds, then immigrating under one of the business streams of British Columbia Nominee Program may be your option.

The basic requirements of the business immigration stream are as follows: the candidate must

  1. have available funds in the amount of at least $600,000;
  2. have business or management experience;
  3. be able to establish a new business or buy and improve an existing business;
  4. invest $200,000 or more in the business;
  5. create one new full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
  6. be actively involved in the management of the business operations, and
  7. physically reside in British Columbia.

For further information or questions regarding business immigration, please feel free to contact our office or complete our online assessment questionnaire: On-line Assessment Questionnaire.