Canada · Residency by investment
Québec Immigrant Investor Programme
VERIFIED AS OPEN, NOT SUSPENDED — contrary to widespread commentary. The QIIP was suspended from 2019 and relaunched on 1 January 2024 under dramatically stricter regulations. The Government of Québec's official investor page (last updated 22 December 2025) states that an application may be submitted at any time and that there is no maximum number of applications to be received. Note that several private sources still describe a 1,900-per-intake quota with 1,330 reserved for China/Hong Kong/Macao; that quota framework derives from the 2024 regulations and is not reflected on the current official page. This is Canada's only remaining passive investor route to permanent residence.
The 2024 relaunch added a hard, unwaivable oral French requirement at Québec Level 7 (roughly CEFR B2) for the principal applicant. That single condition — not the money — is what killed the programme's traditional Asian market and is why intake is effectively self-limiting. Advisers who quote the CAD 1.2M and skip the French are describing a programme that no longer exists.
Qualifying routes
CAD 1,000,000 investment for 5 years (returned without interest) PLUS a CAD 200,000 non-refundable contribution to Investissement Québec – Immigrants Investisseurs Inc. The CAD 200,000 is a fee, not an investment.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- 1.2M CAD
- Total landed cost
- CAD 1.2M committed (CAD 200k of it gone permanently), plus Québec and federal processing fees adjusted every 1 January, plus counsel and French tuition — and the opportunity cost of CAD 1M earning nothing for five years
- Timeline
- 24–48 months — Québec selection (CSQ) then federal PR processing; both stages have been slow since the 2024 relaunch
- Physical presence
- Intent to settle in Québec; PR residency obligation is 730 days in every rolling 5 years
- Family
- spouse or common-law partnerdependent children
- Permanent residency
- Direct PR on federal approval of the Québec selection
- Citizenship
- 3 years of physical presence in Canada out of the preceding 5
- Language test
- CLB 4 English or French for ages 18–54
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- net worth of at least CAD 2,000,000 legally acquired, alone or with an accompanying spousetwo years of management experience in the five years preceding the applicationCAD 1,000,000 five-year investment plus CAD 200,000 non-refundable contribution via an authorised financial intermediaryoral French at Québec Level 7 (≈CEFR B2) for the principal applicantintent to settle in Québec
- Oral French at Québec Level 7 (≈CEFR B2) is mandatory for the principal applicant with no waiver. This is a real B2 speaking-and-listening exam, not a formality.
- CAD 200,000 of the CAD 1.2M is a non-refundable contribution — it is a fee, not an investment.
- The CAD 1,000,000 is returned after 5 years WITHOUT interest. At Canadian rates that is a six-figure real cost on its own.
- Selection by Québec is not admission to Canada — the federal government still runs security and medical admissibility and issues the PR.
- Intent to settle in Québec is a selection condition; moving to Toronto or Vancouver on landing is a misrepresentation risk.
- Landing makes you a Canadian tax resident on worldwide income at marginal rates up to ~53.3% in Québec, and starts the clock on the departure tax if you later leave.
- The programme was suspended once for five years (2019–2023) with little warning. Political risk here is demonstrated, not theoretical.
- Sources conflict on whether a per-intake quota is currently applied; confirm the live intake position with MIFI before committing funds.