Questions asked over Canada's millionaire migrant scheme
Canada's millionaire investor programme was so popular that it had to be frozen, but critics say cash-for-citizenship can never be justified
In 2010, it had become clear to Canada's immigration authorities that their investor migrant scheme was reaching crisis point - and the epicentre of the problem was the consulate in Hong Kong.
Two years earlier, applications to the scheme at the SAR mission had doubled. They did so again in 2009, hitting 20,563 and easily surpassing the entire number being processed in the rest of the world. Nearly all of the SAR applicants - about 99 per cent - were rich mainland Chinese seeking Canadian residency
By the start of 2010, applications to the scheme via Hong Kong were pouring in more than five times faster than they could be processed.
With the backlog soaring out of control, Canada announced drastic action. On June 26, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he planned to double the wealth and investment criteria, to C$1.6m and C$800,000 respectively. But he made no mention of the situation at the consulate 12,000 kilometres away.
New applications were paused until that December when the new rules came into effect. But despite the six-month hiatus, a record 42,312 applications hit the system in 2010, with the Hong Kong consulate receiving 34,427 of them. The influx of millionaire applicants slowed but still exceeded processing capacity the next year, leaving the government little option but to shut the application system down in 2012.