There is no published minimum. Substantiality is proportional to the total cost of purchasing or establishing this particular business, so a drainage installation company with trucks, trenchers and a crew is measured against its own acquisition cost rather than against any general figure. Government charges are separate and are published by the responsible agency.
A proportion, not a threshold
The proportional test is genuinely different from the fixed amounts used in immigrant investment programmes, and confusing the two leads people to save toward a number that does not exist. What is examined is whether the amount committed is substantial in relation to what this business costs, whether it is enough to make the operation likely to succeed, and whether it is a meaningful commitment for this investor. Purchase price, equipment, inventory, leasehold improvements, professional fees paid to complete the transaction and initial working capital can all form part of the investment where they are genuinely spent or irrevocably committed.
Unpaid personal labour does not count. Money borrowed against the investor’s own assets can count where she is personally liable; money secured against the assets of the business being bought generally does not, because the risk then sits with the lender and the business rather than with her. Government charges themselves are modest by comparison and should be read from the responsible agency’s current schedule.