Immigrant Investor Program and Federal Government

federal government: The federal government was right in last Februarys budget to end the program, after 28 largely futile years. In the aftermath of the cancellation, more than a thousand people who had sought permanent residency under the program, most from China, sued the government, according to Globe and Mail. The backlog for the investory program came in part because its criteria were too easy. An investor could become a permanent resident if he or she had a net worth of $1.6-million and was willing to give a five-year, interest-free loan of $800,000 to a provincial government. At current interest rates, that loan was effectively worth a mere $100,000 or so. Thats how little Canada was selling citizenship for and Asking for something does not create a right to it. That is a truism, but Justice Mary Gleason of the Federal Court of Canada last week said just that, about Canadas troubled immigrant investor program. According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a visa officer may grant a foreign national a visa to enter Canada, and may select a foreign national as a member of the economic class such as an immigrant investor. There is a great deal of discretion. Justice Gleasons reasoning turns on the word may. As she wrote, There is no absolute right to the issuance of a visa following the mere fact of having made an application. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.