IN THIS GUIDE · Ask the right questions before a Lévis executive treats the Gold Card as a faster EB-5
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Establish which track is on the table
Hypothetical example: a senior executive at a Lévis insurance group is told by the group's U.S. arm that it will sponsor her under the corporate track, while she has separately read the individual track's terms. The two tracks carry different gift amounts, different sponsors and different consequences if employment ends. As read on September 7, 2026, the official page stated an individual gift of US$1 million and a corporate gift of US$2 million per sponsored employee, each with a nonrefundable processing fee. Ask the employer to put its offer in writing, then check it against the official page, not against a summary.
Count the household before counting the money
The official page describes additional processing fees and additional gifts for each accompanying spouse and unmarried child under 21 included in the application. A household of four is therefore not one headline figure. List every person who intends to move, confirm that each is eligible to be included, and build the total person by person. A spouse who plans to stay in Lévis for a year, or a child who will be 21 by the time of processing, changes the figure and may change the plan.
Keep eligibility, vetting and payment as three separate steps
The gift does not buy a decision. The applicant must still be admissible under ordinary immigration law, must be eligible for the classification the authorities assign, and must wait for a visa number if the category is backlogged. Vetting comes before the gift is requested. Anyone told that payment settles the outcome, or that citizenship follows, is being told something the official page does not say. Permanent residence and citizenship remain separate statuses with separate requirements.
Compare the frameworks on their own terms
EB-5 puts capital at risk in an enterprise that must create jobs and may return the money; the Gold Card gives money away and asks for nothing commercial in return. One is a financial decision with immigration consequences; the other is an immigration decision with a fixed financial cost. Tax treatment, refund rights, family totals and timing all differ. Obtain tax advice on the treatment of a gift of this size from a Canadian resident before committing, and keep the two frameworks on separate pages of any comparison.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.