Conditions for immigrating to Québec as an entrepreneur – Stream 3: Business takeover

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission of the application.

You must hold a diploma minimally corresponding, in Québec, to a secondary school diploma, a vocational studies diploma, an attestation of vocational specialization or a certificate of college studies obtained before the date of submission of the application.

You do not need to provide an Évaluation comparative des études effectuées hors du Québec (ECE – comparative evaluation of studies done outside Québec) of your diploma to submit your application.

You must have a knowledge of spoken French corresponding minimally to level 7 according to the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français (Québec scale of French proficiency levels).

To demonstrate your knowledge of French, even if French is your mother tongue, you must submit one of the following documents: 

• Test results certificates or French language assessment diplomas accepted by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration; 
• One of the secondary school diplomas accepted by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration.

The French language assessment tests and diplomas accepted by the Ministère are: 

• Test de connaissance du français pour le Québec (TCF-Québec), France Éducation international;
• Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada (TCF-Canada), France Éducation international;
• Test de connaissance du français (TCF), France Éducation international;
• Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF), France Éducation international;
• Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF), France Éducation international;
• Test d’évaluation du français adapté pour le Québec (TEFAQ), Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris Île-de-France (CCIP-IDF);
• Test d’évaluation du français pour le Canada (TEF Canada), CCIP-IDF;
• Test d’évaluation du français (TEF),CCIP-IDF.

Your results must be less than two years old at the time you submit your application.

Please note — Only the results issued by the suppliers of these tests (France Éducation international and the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris Île-de-France) are recognized by the Ministère.

Electronic versions of the above tests are also accepted. You must take these tests in a centre approved by the organization that provides them.

Here are the secondary school diplomas accepted by the Ministère:

• General, vocational and technological baccalaureates awarded by the French Ministry of Education,
• Certificate of higher secondary education (CESS) issued by the Government of the French Community of Belgium;
• Maturité certificate awarded on completion of studies at a school located in a French-speaking canton of Switzerland.

The Ministère may call you for an interview to verify the level of French you declared in your application for permanent selection.

You must commit for three months as of the date of obtaining permanent resident status to meeting your essential needs, those of the members of your family accompanying you and those of dependent children who are Canadian citizens.

Please consult the schedules in effect (PDF 157 Kb) for the current year.

Your business must not be engaged in activities in the following sectors:

• Payday loans, cashing cheques or pledge loans;
• Production, distribution or sale of pornographic or sexually explicit products or services related to the sex industry, such as nude or erotic dancing, escort services or erotic massage;
• Trading, leasing, brokerage, development or planning in the property sector.

When your file is opened, you will receive a request to obtain an attestation of learning about democratic values and Québec values.

You must obtain your attestation within a maximum of 60 days after receiving this request.

The members of your family accompanying you will also need to obtain it, namely, your spouse aged 16 years or older and your dependent children aged 18 years or older.

You will not receive this request if you and your family have already obtained your attestation.

You must have a minimum net worth of CAD $600,000. This amount does not include donations received in the six months prior to the date of your application. You can share this net worth with your spouse or common-law partner included in the application.

You must prove the lawful origin and accrual of your net worth. Your spouse or common-law partner included in the application must also demonstrate the origin and lawful accrual of their net worth, even if their assets are not required to reach the minimum net worth required by the program.  

You can take over a business on your own or together with your spouse or common-law partner included in the application.

Please note! If you have business partners, they cannot submit an application for permanent selection as an entrepreneur.

You must acquire control of the company you wish to take over alone or with your spouse or common-law partner included in the application.

If you have business partners, they will not be able to control the business.

In the context of the business takeover, you must spend a minimum amount of:

• CDN$300 000 for businesses located in the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal;
• CDN$150 000 for businesses located outside the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal.

If you have not yet started the takeover process when you submit your application, you must include these expenses in your takeover plan. Once the takeover offer has been made, you will need to provide all the necessary supporting documentation to demonstrate that you have indeed incurred these expenses.

You must have arranged for the services of an organization specializing in business takeovers to support you throughout the entire transfer process.

An organization specialized in business takeovers is an organization with an establishment in Québec whose main activity is to provide support services (training, mentoring, business transfer brokerage).

The organization must be able to demonstrate that it can support you in your business project. To do so, it must draw up a service offert in which it presents the services it offered you in the context of the business transfer process. The service offer makes it possible to assess the capacity of the organization to support you in carrying out your business project. The resources deployed by the support organization must be sufficient and adapted to the needs related to the transfer process.

The organization must complete the Offre de service en repreneuriat (PDF 189 Kb) (Takeover Service Offer form, in French only), which you must attach to your request.

For more information on the business transfer process, visit the Repreneuriat Québec website (in French only).

Your business project must be outlined in a takeover plan and submitted with your application. To draw up your plan, use the document Plan de relève — Programme des entrepreneurs - Volet 3 (PDF 306 Kb) (in French only).

In the two years following submission of your application, you must have made takeover bid in accordance with the business project presented in the succession plan and service offer.  

You must also demonstrate that you made the planned expenditures for the acquisition of the business.

To apply under the Acquired company profile, you must have been living in Québec for at least two years and you must have complied with the conditions of your stay.

You must have a minimum net worth of CAD $300,000. This amount does not include donations received in the six months prior to the date of application. You can share this net worth with your spouse or common-law partner included in the application.

You must prove the lawful origin and accrual of your net worth. Your spouse or common-law partner included in the application must also demonstrate the origin and lawful accrual of their net worth, even if their assets are not required to reach the minimum net worth required by the program.

You must have taken over the business without business partners or with your accompanying spouse or common-law partner.

If you have business partners, they cannot apply for permanent selection as an entrepreneur.

You must acquire control of the business you wish to take over alone or with the person included in the application you as your spouse.

If you have business partners, they must not have control of the company.

You must have received a service offer from an organization specialized in business takeovers that has committed to supporting you throughout the transfer process.  

An organization specialized in business takeovers is an organization with an establishment in Québec whose main activity is to provide support services (training, mentoring, business transfer brokerage). 

The organization must be able to demonstrate that it can support you in your business project. To do so, it must draw up an Offre de service en repreneuriat in which it presents the services it intends to offer you in the context of the business transfer process. The service offer makes it possible to assess the capacity of the organization to support you in carrying out your business project. The resources deployed by the support organization must be sufficient and adapted to the needs related to the transfer process.  

You must include the form completed by the organization (PDF 189 Kb) (in French only) with your application.

For more information on the business transfer process, visit the Repreneuriat Québec website (in French only).

Your business project must be outlined in a takeover plan and submitted with your application. To draw up your plan, use the document Plan de relève — Programme des entrepreneurs - Volet 3 (PDF 306 Kb) (in French only).