Canada extends millionaire migration deadline as scheme appears to flop with rich Chinese

Canada’s new millionaire migration scheme appears to have flopped amid doubts about its suitability for rich mainland Chinese, forcing authorities to quietly issue a lengthy extension to an application window which was supposed to have ended last week.

The Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) pilot programme, which will grant permanent residency to immigrants who are worth a minimum of C$10 million (HK$62 million) if they hand over C$2 million for Canada’s government to invest on their behalf, will now take applications until April 15. That extends the application window from two weeks to a total of 11 weeks, suggesting the scheme has fallen well short of the worldwide cap of 500 applications.

Immigration industry sources had doubted the costly scheme would hit the application cap during the original window, and questioned whether the government was sincere about the programme. They said the scheme’s strict requirements - applicants must speak English or French, have a Canadian tertiary qualification or equivalent, and undergo a financial audit - would deter mainland Chinese millionaires.

Canada’s defunct Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), which the IIVC scheme replaces, was the world’s most popular wealth migration scheme, thanks mainly to rich Chinese applicants.

There was also no explanation why the extension was needed. The initial ministerial instructions had said the scheme, which opened on January 28, would only accept applications until February 11 “or until a maximum of 500 applications are received, whichever comes first”. Only a maximum of 60 randomly drawn applicants and their families will be allowed to immigrate.