Read the general investor planning overview
An acquisition by a Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley investor should be assessed on the final transaction rather than a purchase total that no longer applies. The useful question is not what the buyer once intended to spend, but what money and obligations remain committed after every adjustment. A first review should create a closing ledger that ties the purchase agreement to the final inventory, escrow release, wire confirmations and operating commitments. The investor must then decide whether the remaining capital supports a credible application or whether additional funds need to be genuinely committed before proceeding.
Reconcile each changed amount
Connect the final stock count with exclusions, payments and any refund. Explain where returned funds actually went and whether later use represents a genuine qualifying commitment. Do not leave missing inventory in the capital total, count the same money twice or invent a replacement asset to conceal the reduction. Hypothetical example: a Canadian buyer acquires a small specialty-coffee roaster, but the final count excludes packaged stock past its best-before date and reduces the price. The inventory schedule, amendment, seller credit and bank statements determine the final capital figure. She can place the credit into a signed equipment order whose payment is no longer optional, or retain it personally and present a smaller investment. The decision is commercial as well as immigration-related: equipment that the operating plan does not need should not be purchased merely to inflate a number. Claiming returned money as still at risk, however, obscures the transaction.
Apply the investor and enterprise tests to the final facts
E-2 requires qualifying treaty nationality, at least 50% relevant national enterprise ownership, development and direction, and substantial lawful at-risk investment. There is no fixed minimum or universal ten-job requirement. The real business must be nonmarginal under the applicable living-income or significant-economic-contribution rules. Working capital, personal financing and visa-contingent escrow need their actual terms reviewed; enterprise-secured borrowing is not interchangeable with qualifying personal financing. Next, test the final ledger against the whole E-2 framework. The investor needs qualifying treaty nationality, the enterprise needs qualifying ownership, the investment must be substantial and exposed to commercial risk, and the applicant must direct the real operating business. The enterprise cannot be marginal. Signed lease terms, paid invoices, staffing assumptions and sales evidence generally settle these points better than a round purchase price. The decision is whether the post-adjustment plan still reaches the required scale and operating capacity; if it does not, postponing the filing may be more accurate than relying on a pre-adjustment forecast.
What else is on your mind?
Is there one minimum investment that guarantees E-2 eligibility?Is holding money or owning an asset enough for E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.