Identify what is being acquired
List the assets, contracts, rights or ownership interests included and any exclusions. Explain how the acquired elements support the business that will operate. A purchase price without a clear description of the enterprise leaves important immigration and commercial questions unanswered. Read the agreement with the operating plan beside it. Identify every asset or share acquired, the premises right, seller transition services and any consent needed to operate. The first decision is whether the purchaser will obtain a real operating enterprise rather than a collection of assets. If key contracts remain with the seller, say so and explain how the buyer will lawfully replace them.
Trace the relevant ownership
Establish the enterprise’s treaty nationality and the applicant’s ability to develop and direct it. Different transaction structures can create different ownership records. Canadian residence and a US company registration do not alone answer the nationality question. Trace nationality through the final ownership chain and identify who will make the important business decisions. Canadian residence is not the test. Where owners have different nationalities or entities sit between the investor and business, use formation documents, registers and ownership ledgers to establish the relevant facts. A nominal management title will not resolve a missing control problem.
Document the committed investment
Trace lawful source and path and the real payments, financing and conditions. Distinguish funds at risk from uncommitted intentions. There is no universal E-2 minimum, and a larger price does not resolve a missing control or operating-business requirement. Funds should be committed beyond the investor's unfettered control and exposed to the commercial outcome; money merely reserved for a possible deal is not enough. The investment must be substantial in context, and the enterprise cannot be marginal. There is no automatic residence outcome from this temporary classification, so the buyer should not make a purchase decision on an assumed immigrant result.
Review the business after closing
Identify staff, customers, licences, expenses and contracts that will remain or need replacement. Test nonmarginality with credible evidence. The seller’s past results may be relevant, but they should not be treated as a guarantee that the buyer’s revised operation will perform identically. Use a conservative operating forecast that identifies customer retention, payroll, fixed costs and the investor's role. The most useful record is a forecast that can be reconciled to contracts, historic statements and market assumptions. A recurrent error is treating the seller's gross revenue as the buyer's future income after exclusions or new expenses. Explain the changed model before relying on it.
Recalculate nationality for the chosen purchase structure
At least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. For an asset purchase, establish the buyer enterprise’s ownership; for a share purchase, examine the resulting ownership of the acquired enterprise. Separately support capacity for more than minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution under the applicable nonmarginality rules.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.