IN THIS GUIDE · An investor whose American partner wants exactly half of everything
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Ownership nationality is traced through to people
A treaty enterprise must be at least fifty per cent owned by nationals of the treaty country, and Canada is a treaty country for this purpose. The test looks through corporations to the individuals holding the shares, so interposing a Quebec holding company changes nothing unless the people behind it are themselves treaty nationals. Fifty per cent is a minimum rather than a comfortable margin. If Océane later sells a slice of her half to raise working capital, or if the son’s shareholding is increased in a future round, the enterprise can lose its treaty character while everyone believes the immigration side is settled. Any shareholders agreement should therefore be read for what it permits in three years, not only for what it does at closing.
Owning half and directing the business are two requirements
Beyond the ownership floor, the investor must be in a position to develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least fifty per cent ownership or through operational control by some other legitimate means. A deadlocked structure in which nothing can be decided without the other shareholder’s agreement is worth examining carefully, because the ability to direct has to be real. Control can also come from a managerial position held under the shareholders agreement, from a casting vote, or from a class of shares carrying different rights. What matters is that the arrangement is documented and honest. Describing Océane as the person who runs the company while the agreement gives the son a veto over hiring, pricing and capital spending invites the obvious question.
Capital counts when it can no longer be recalled
The investment must be irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk of partial or total loss if the business fails. Money sitting in a personal account earmarked for the purchase is neither. Funds released from escrow only if a visa issues are conditional in a way that undercuts the commitment, whereas a deposit forfeited if she walks away, equipment purchased and delivered, a lease signed with personal exposure and staff hired are all irreversible. The amount must also be substantial in proportion to the total cost of buying or establishing this particular business, which is a proportional test rather than a published threshold, so a modest installation company needs less than a manufacturing plant and a nearly complete purchase price is stronger than a fraction of a large one.
Real, operating and supporting more than one household
The enterprise has to be a real and active commercial undertaking producing goods or services for profit, not an idle holding of land or a paper company waiting for a decision. It must also be more than marginal, meaning it should have the present or near-future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and her family, which is normally demonstrated by employees, contracts and financial projections grounded in the business’s actual history. An existing company with a crew, a customer list and filed returns answers this far more convincingly than a plan. The last point is the one most often missed: this classification offers no direct path to permanent residence, however long it is maintained.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.