IN THIS GUIDE · Ask the regional center what a Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier investor is actually buying before the capital moves
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Questions the regional center should answer in writing
Hypothetical example: an electrical contractor in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier sold his company to a larger firm, holds the proceeds through a family holding corporation, and is reviewing a regional-center project. Ask how the ten jobs per investor are calculated and whether they are direct or modelled indirect jobs; whether the project qualifies for the reduced amount and on what designation; how many investors are ahead of him in the job-creation count; and what happens to his capital and his petition if the project fails or is delayed. Answers that arrive as brochures rather than documents are answers to different questions.
Trace the money through the holding company
Lawful source and path of funds must be shown for the entire amount. When proceeds sit inside a holding corporation, the file needs the sale agreement, the corporate bank statements showing receipt, the tax filings reporting the gain, and the resolution and records showing how the money leaves the corporation to the investor personally, whether as a dividend, a loan or a capital return. Each step has a tax treatment and a document. Gaps in the chain are the most common reason for requests for evidence.
Understand what engagement in management means
A regional-center investor is not expected to run the project, but must have a role in policy formulation, which limited partnership or LLC agreements typically address through voting rights. Read the agreement for the rights actually granted rather than relying on the sponsor's description. A purely passive instrument with no rights at all is a problem, and so is an agreement that promises a return in a way that suggests the capital is not truly at risk.
Plan the two-year conditional period from the start
Form I-829 is filed during the 90-day period before the second anniversary of conditional residence. At filing, the investor must show that the investment was sustained through the conditional-residence period and that ten qualifying full-time jobs were created or can be expected to be created within a reasonable time; the jobs do not categorically have to exist before filing. Ask the sponsor how any early repayment or redeployment affects the applicable sustainment rules. Visa availability by country of chargeability affects when the family can immigrate, so check the Visa Bulletin rather than assuming Canada is current.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.