CILA’s latest Catalyst Canada episode is now live.
Catalyst Canada is convening stakeholders from across the country to explore how Canada can improve its policies to strengthen economic development through business immigration. Catalyst Canada is recording the episodes and then posting them on YouTube to stimulate national dialogue. It will culminate in the release of a major research report in fall 2025.
Canada is facing a capital crisis, a succession crisis, and an innovation crisis — all at the same time. Yet our business immigration framework remains frozen, despite massive global demand and a clear economic opportunity.
In this roundtable, Siavash Shekarian is joined by two of the most experienced voices in the global investor immigration space:
- Patrick McCarthy — Immigrant Investor Program Director at Sherbrooke Street Capital; Director of Business Immigration at ClientReferrals; former CIC Business Immigration Unit member; 28-year veteran of global investor immigration; leading strategist in the global RCBI industry.
- Marc Audet — President & CEO, AURAY Capital (Grant Thornton); former Managing Director & VP of the Immigrant Investor Program at Desjardins; internationally recognized authority on investment migration and one of the most influential figures behind the Quebec IIP.
Together, they outline what a modern, strategic, and competitive passive investor program must look like — and why Canada needs one now.
Key themes include:
- Why Canada has a rare political “window” to restart investor immigration
- How a simple, two-phase program could launch within 6 months
- A competitive structure: $1–$1.5M at-risk, 5-year lock, direct pathway to PR
- Targeting national priorities: housing, innovation, infrastructure
- Why IRCC cannot manage investment risk — and why a centralized fund with private-sector due diligence is essential
- How to make Canada competitive in a global market of investor programs from the U.S., Europe, and the Caribbean
- Why the program must be transparent, credible, and publicly aligned with solving real Canadian problems
Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when new episodes are released. All episodes are available here.
