The governing agreements determine the premises rights. Do not infer them solely from the seller’s current occupancy.
Read the assignment conditions
Identify landlord consent, expiry and renewal provisions. Explain any unresolved condition that affects the business the investor proposes to direct.
Other E-2 elements sit beside this one: treaty nationality based on citizenship rather than Canadian residence, at least fifty percent treaty ownership of the enterprise, genuine development and direction by the investor, substantial capital committed and at risk, and a real operating commercial enterprise. Request the same formation, ownership, and financial records that would be required for an unfamiliar business, and confirm the investor's treaty nationality and lawful source of funds independently of any local endorsement. Where a note is secured by the assets of the business being bought - its equipment, inventory, receivables or goodwill - that borrowed amount is not the investor's capital at risk, because the enterprise itself absorbs the loss on default. Storage buildings collecting rent with no staff resemble passive real estate; a managed facility with staff, contracts, sales activity and services sold to customers looks like an operating business. The investment must be substantial in proportion to the cost of this particular business; there is no fixed minimum, and a proportionality analysis compares the amount committed to the total price of establishing or buying the enterprise.