Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP)

You’ve proven that you have sufficient income to meet the minimum threshold of 1.6 million CAD for the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), and that’s all there is to it, right? Actually, the Quebec immigration authorities need to ensure that you not only have sufficient funds, but that all of it was accumulated legally. To prove this, you are required to prepare what is called a “Narrative document” as well as provide documents to support all of your statements for the business immigration. The narrative is a detailed history of income earned and expenses incurred in your life up to present day. Basically, the business immigration officer wants to know how you went from nothing to the net worth you are claiming today.

As the QIIP will begin accepting applications starting May 30, 2016, we thought it would be helpful to provide you with a few tips on how to prepare your Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) narrative document. This can guide can be equally useful for other immigration programs where a history of funds is also requested:

1. Income can come from several sources. In order to reformulate income earned at places of employment, the easiest method for the immigrant investor  would be to obtain tax records for each year of employment. In countries where tax documents are not available, you must look for alternate documentary evidence of income including, but not limited to, bank statements showing salary deposits, employment contracts, reference letters from former and current employers, and letter of promotion indicating salary increases.
2. As all assets which belong to the immigrant Investor and liabilities owned must be disclosed for the purpose of this application, how each asset and liability was acquired will be of interest to the Canadian immigration officer. If you currently own multiple properties, for instance, you must explain where you obtained the funds to purchase each of your properties.
3. If your net worth is significantly above the minimum threshold, you not only have to prove how you accumulated the 1.6 million CAD, but rather your total net worth in its entirety.
4. Sometimes, documentation cannot be recovered if the period in question was too long ago. In this case, approximates should be indicated to the best of your recollection along with an affidavit explaining the lack of documents to Canadian immigration. Note: It is always at the immigration officer’s discretion whether to accept an affidavit as evidence in lieu of the official documents requested.
5. Income for immigrant business owners is not as simple as those employed. While a business owner can claim a salary, he/she can also be paid dividends, or take drawings from the company. Each withdrawal of funds must be represented in the company financial statements. Good bookkeeping is key to any business!
6. Follow the QIIP narrative writing guidelines as closely as possible, however, if additional tables will help clarify your story, feel free to add them.
7. Sometimes, too much detail will only serve to confuse the Canadian immigration officer. The immigrant investor must keep their narrative clear and concise. Real details should be apparent in your documents (financial statements, bank statements, tax returns, etc).
8. A simple but effective tip is to always ensure that your income exceeds your expenses in each period. If your income is less than expenses, this will imply that you obtained a loan for your investment, in which case the details of the loan must be described.
9. Personal assets for the investor need not be disclosed in the application form or narrative document. This includes jewellery, cars, valuable paintings, etc.
10. Be honest! Trying to conceal information will only lead to further questioning and investigation from the QIIP officer.

Our team has many years of experience in helping business immigration clients prepare their narrative documents for the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP)  to meet the requirements of the immigration office. The narrative document is one of the most time-intensive steps to preparing a successful Canadian immigration application. We are here to assist you. 


For more information on the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, please click here.            

Feel free to fill out our Free Assessment, and find out if you qualify under any of the business immigration programs offered.