Not necessarily, and not blindly. Funds can be placed in an escrow that releases on visa issuance, which commits them without closing first. The sequence should be chosen after reading the escrow, franchise-approval and financing terms together, not before.
Sequencing the closing
A buyer who closes first owns a U.S. dealership while still in Canada, which is lawful but leaves the business without its operator if the visa is delayed or refused. A buyer who applies with nothing committed will be refused for lack of investment.
The workable middle is an escrow: the purchase price is deposited under terms that release it to the seller on visa issuance and return it to the buyer on refusal, which the FAM recognizes as a qualifying commitment when the terms make it irrevocable on approval. That structure has to be negotiated with the seller and aligned with the franchisor's approval timetable, since the franchisor may require the transfer to be complete before the buyer operates. Book the consular interview only when the escrow is funded and the agreements are signed, and do not give the seller a closing date that assumes a particular visa issuance day.
If the deal changes materially after the application, the change must be disclosed and reviewed.