IN THIS GUIDE · Count every person in the Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier household before reading the Gold Card headline figure
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Build the household total person by person
Hypothetical example: a semi-retired couple in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier who ran an IT consultancy, with a son who turns 21 in seven months, ask whether one gift covers the three of them. As checked on September 7, 2026, the official FAQ describes a US$1 million gift and a US$15,000 processing fee for the principal, and a further US$1 million gift and US$15,000 fee for each accompanying spouse and each eligible unmarried child under 21. Their son's birthday is therefore a financial and legal deadline, and the household total is three times the headline, not one.
Distinguish the individual and the corporate track
The official page also describes a corporate sponsorship track under which a company makes a larger gift, stated as US$2 million per sponsored employee, with terms that tie the benefit to the sponsoring employer. A household approached by a U.S. company should ask which track is proposed and who bears the gift, and should read the transferability conditions before treating a corporate offer as equivalent to an individual application.
Keep vetting and eligibility ahead of payment
The described sequence is application and fee, vetting, then the gift on instruction, followed by immigrant processing. The applicant must still be admissible and a visa must be available in the resulting classification. A criminal record, a prior overstay or a medical ground of inadmissibility is not cured by a gift, and no official material describes the gift as a guarantee of approval, a timeline or citizenship.
Compare consequences, not prices
Against EB-5, the Gold Card exchanges commercial risk for certainty of loss: the gift is not returned, but there is no project to fail. Against employment-based routes, it removes the need for an employer but not the need for admissibility or a visa number. Tax residence begins with permanent residence under either route, and a household with a Québec business or property should have the exit consequences reviewed before committing to any of them.
Separate employer promises from official instructions
A corporate arrangement has published annual and transfer conditions as well; use the actual programme instructions rather than a private promise of interchangeable payments. Obtain the official instructions, the identity of each applicant or included relative, and a written breakdown that distinguishes government charges from private services. Before relying on a replacement arrangement, establish who the sponsor is, which application the proposal concerns and what official instructions apply. The first review should identify the official instructions, the applicant’s qualifying basis, the exact payee for every charge and the point at which a payment is authorized. Write down, once, where each thing lives: the official account and its reference, the address recorded on it, the payment records, and any private copy an adviser or employer holds.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.