The Manitoba Provincial Nomination Program for Business is designed to assist business people in immigrating to Manitoba. The program allows qualified business people and farm owners from other counties to start or buy a business or farm, or to become partners in a business.
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Qualification parameters
To qualify for the program, candidates need to meet a number of criteria. These include;
Procedure
Applicants need to file for the invitation from the government, and all documents concerned with the description of net worth and experience must be submitted for the assessment. They can attend during one of the regularly scheduled presentation weeks. This week is always utilized for providing information on the various aspects and general information about the province. During this week an interview is also conducted by a Business Immigration Officer.
After the exploratory visit the application is submitted along with all copies of required documents. The submission must be made within one year of the date of the interview with the Business Immigration Officer.
If the nomination is successful the applicant is then required to sign a deposit agreement and deposit CDN $75,000 as a refundable security. This money is used by the government to finance the PNP program, including establishment of the Business Settlement Office. This money is returned to the investor after the requirements mentioned in the deposit agreement have been met.
Importance
The program has enabled a resurrection of immigration from Ukraine to Manitoba, which had almost stopped in the early 1990s. An estimated 250 people a year have emigrated from Ukraine in the last 12 years. The program accounts for more than three-quarters of all new immigrants arriving in Manitoba, and is seen as the main driver for the increased population growth.