The Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, visited Hong Kong and mainland China last week. During his time there, he spoke with the South China Morning Post newspaper about the future of the Federal Immigrant Investor Program.

Minister Alexander explained that the investor program, which is scheduled to be closed, was no longer serving the best interests of Canada. Moving forward, the program will become an “immigration investor capital pilot, a larger investment in an at-risk project focused on the start-up side of the venture capital spectrum”. Such a program is similar to ones already in place in Australia and some European countries.

The Minister also stated that the required investment will be more than double the current amount of $800,000. In addition, the funds will be invested for a longer period of time. Investors will deposit their money into a single fund, and will not have a choice in terms of what they invest in and where.

To coordinate the new program, the government of Canada will be working with professional private-sector managers. A competition will be held to select these managers.

This pilot program will be established with the intent of eventually creating a new investor program that is more suitable to Canada’s current economic needs. Further information on this program is expected to be released in the coming months.