IN THIS GUIDE · Ask the seller the questions a business summary never answers
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Ask how the ownership will be structured, and by whom
Canada is a treaty country, and the requirement runs to both the individual and the enterprise: the business must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the treaty country whose nationality the applicant claims. Ask early whether any co-investor, financing partner or family member with different nationality would hold equity, because a structure agreed casually during negotiation can defeat the requirement entirely. Ask the transaction lawyer to record the intended ownership before the purchase agreement is drafted, since unwinding it afterwards is expensive and the original documents are what a reviewer eventually reads. Trace treaty nationality through the actual owners, not through the business name or a manager’s passport. Share certificates, operating agreements, and voting rights should agree. A minority investor who cannot direct operations needs a different analysis from an owner who controls the enterprise.
Ask when each payment becomes unrecoverable
The category requires funds irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk, and the distinction between available and committed decides most files. Ask the seller and the lawyer, for each element of the transaction, on what date the money can no longer come back: when a deposit is released, when the agreement becomes binding without further conditions, when equipment payments are made, when a lease creates enforceable liability. A documented conditional escrow may satisfy the rule, but the file must identify exactly which sums are already beyond recovery. List each transfer, its condition, and the point at which it cannot be recovered. Escrow instructions, purchase contracts, invoices, and bank confirmations then tell a coherent story. Vague evidence that money was available leaves the central commitment question unanswered.
Ask what the business actually earns and employs
Substantiality is judged in proportion to the cost of acquiring or establishing this particular enterprise, not against a fixed number, so the purchase price and asset base matter more than any general figure. Marginality is a separate question: the enterprise must be real and operating and must have the present or near-future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, usually through employment or demonstrable earning capacity. Ask for filed accounts rather than a summary, ask how many people are employed and for how much of the year, and ask what happens to the customer base when the current owner leaves. Use forecasts that identify customers, costs, staffing, and working capital rather than a revenue target alone. The marginality assessment concerns the enterprise’s capacity, so unsupported optimism about a future market does not replace operational evidence or a credible hiring plan.
Ask what you will control, and what the status does not include
The investor must develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least fifty percent ownership or through operational control recorded in the governing documents. Ask what decision rights the buyer will actually hold, particularly where a seller stays on or where financing carries conditions. Ask also about the boundaries of the category: it is a nonimmigrant classification with no direct path to permanent residence, it depends on the qualifying investment continuing to exist, and it does not convert into something else over time. The spouse of an E-2 principal is employment-authorised incident to status. Separate immigration permission from business licensing and personal tax consequences. The investor may direct the enterprise, but professional regulation, local approvals, and contractual restrictions can still control what work is possible. Resolve those before treating the visa category as a business-operating plan.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.