Treaty Work Permit for Investors

LMIA-exempt work permit options for certain foreign investors who are coming to Canada to establish, develop, or actively manage a qualifying investment. These categories are available only to individuals covered by specific free trade agreements and generally require a substantial commitment of capital together with an active role in the Canadian enterprise.

Investor work permits are available under specific international trade agreements, rather than as a single immigration program open to all nationalities. Eligible investors must be citizens of a free-trade partner, such as CUSMA (US and Mexico), the European Union and the UK, CPTPP (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam), WTO members under GATS, or independent partners South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

The central requirement is a substantial investment in Canada. The investor must generally be coming to establish, develop, or administer that investment, or provide important technical or advisory services connected to its operation. These categories are intended for active business participation rather than simply making a passive financial investment. There is no single Canada-wide dollar amount that automatically qualifies as a substantial investment across all of these categories; the amount and nature of the investment must be credible in the context of the particular business and sufficient to support the proposed Canadian operation.