One of the questions that I am most frequently asked is “where does British Columbia’s money from the Immigrant Investor Program go?” Indeed, at least two people today e-mailed me this question after they read an article in the China Daily about how $1.6-billion left China due to emigration under various investor scheme. The answer can be found on the the B.C. Immigrant Investment Fund Ltd.’s (the “BC IIF”) website. The BCIIF receives and manages British Columbia’s portion of funds under the Immigrant Investor Program. Their 2011-2014 Service Plan can be found here. According to the website and the 2011-2014 Service Plan, some of the money from the Immigrant Investor Program has been spent on the following projects: Loaning $60-million to aid in the construction of the BCIT aerospace facility near the Vancouver International Airport; Loaning $5-million to help facilitate the purchase of the University of Victoria Technology Enterprise Facility, which accommodates the Centre for Addictions Research B.C., the NEPTUNE Canada Research Project, and the Venus Research Project. Loaning $13.9-million for the construction of a student residence at the University of the Fraser Valley. Loaning $3.3-million for the construction of two residences at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. Loaning … Read More
Chinese Immigration and Vancouver Real Estate
The topic of the relationship between wealthy, primarily Chinese, immigrants and their effect on Vancouver’s housing market has recently become a bit of a hot topic in the city. I was recently quoted in Vancouver Magazine on the topic, and specifically on the relationship between the Canada and Quebec immigrant investor programs and immigration to Vancouver. The answers to such questions lie largely in the numbers, though not necessarily the obvious ones. Anyone in real estate will tell you the wealthy arrivals dominating the market are mostly from mainland China, yet immigration from there has been dropping in recent years. In 2009, just under 9,000 mainland Chinese arrived in Vancouver, down from almost 13,000 in 2005. But, says Steven Meurrens, an immigration lawyer with Larlee Rosenberg, official numbers don’t necessarily reflect reality. About half the Chinese immigrants arriving in Vancouver are in the investor class and thus must prove a net worth of at least $1.6 million (doubled since new rules were instituted in late 2010). That number might mean only 1,200 or 1,500 households-not terribly significant in a region where sales exceeded 40,000 in 2010-but Meurrens says the number of investor immigrants from mainland China landing in B.C. is … Read More
Am I a Tax Resident in Canada or China?
A person who is a Canadian tax resident must pay income tax on his/her worldwide income. As previously noted in this blog, people who try to evade paying taxes in Canada on income earned abroad face heavy penalties.
Student Partnership Program Expands to China : 中加學生合作計劃
The Canadian embassy in Beijing has expanded the Student Partnership Program originally launched in India to China. The program creates a special processing channel at the Beijing visa office for students destined to member institutions of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, whose membership includes Camosun College, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Vancouver Community College. Students using the program will experience a far shorter wait time than normal applicants, in some cases less than two weeks. The application form can be viewed here: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/china-chine/assets/pdfs/immigration/beijing/documents/SPP_Application_Kit_2010_07_EN.pdf This story broke in today’s Ming Pao, both as a front page story, and as a small story with my comments here: 在技術移民難度顯著增加的情況下，加國駐中國大使館新推出的中加學生合作計劃，有望成為中國一般社會人士移民加拿大的新途徑。 移 民律師辛湉王(Steven Meurrens)指出，先到本地學院習得一技之長，又有實習經驗的留學生勢必更受加國移民部歡迎，只要符合規定，無論通過聯邦經驗類(CEC)，還是省 提名類別(PNP)移民均更易成功，因為加國非常需要這些能夠通過技術服務社會、能有效融入本地的青壯年，他認為SPP有望成為一個新的移民增長點。 留 學顧問丁方方表示，通過留學移民的途徑日漸熱門，許多私立學校亦以此招攬生源，但實際上這些學校良莠不齊，其課程更可能完全不符合移民政策的要求，因此 SPP計劃中的公立學院是好得多的選擇，它們提供多種多樣的文憑或證書課程，比大學更注重職業性和實際操作，兼有帶薪實習課程(Co-op)，有利於就 業。她認為，這對於有意移民的普通人，SPP計劃可能是個比技術移民或投資移民更可行的選擇。