Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Separate nationality from authority
At least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Examine the applicant’s actual management and control rights to assess development and direction. Do not automatically equate a minority interest with either qualifying authority or its absence.
Meet the capital and enterprise requirements
Substantial at-risk qualifying funds need lawful source and path. There is no universal E-2 minimum. The real business must satisfy nonmarginality through more than minimal living or significant economic contribution under the applicable framework, without importing EB-5’s ten-job rule. Canadians generally need an E visa.
Confirm the investment is substantial and irrevocably committed
The consular guidance looks for the investor to be in a position to develop and direct the enterprise, which ownership of at least half, or operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device, ordinarily shows. The investor has to be a national of a treaty country, which Canada is, and the enterprise itself must have the nationality of that treaty country, determined by the citizenship of the persons who own at least fifty percent of it. The money must be irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk, substantial in proportion to what the business costs to buy or establish, and placed in a real operating enterprise that is more than marginal. Before relying on a forecast, identify the decision it must support: whether the capital is committed beyond the investor’s unilateral reach and exposed to the enterprise’s risk of loss, and whether the operation may avoid marginality. Borrowed funds are not excluded outright, but collateral matters: a loan secured by the investor's personal assets is treated differently from one secured only by the enterprise. A seller-financed note secured by the business's own assets is generally not counted as investment because the enterprise, not the investor, bears the risk; a note personally guaranteed and secured by the buyer's Canadian house is a different picture. Two conditions govern the outcome and neither is arithmetic: the investment must be at risk, meaning subject to partial or total loss, and it may not be marginal, so the enterprise must have the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living. Enterprise-asset-secured borrowing does not count as E-2 investment capital; review personal liability and other loan terms individually.
Read the purchase agreement for what is actually committed
Funds held in escrow can still be irrevocably committed when a purchase is conditioned on issuance of the E-2 visa, provided the agreement creates a solid commitment and the assets are released or transferred once that condition is met. Money counts toward the E-2 investment when it has been spent on the business or is irrevocably committed to it: purchased equipment, a signed commercial lease with rent paid, inventory, permits, professional fees and funds held in escrow that release on visa approval. The investment must be substantial in relation to the total cost of purchasing or establishing the enterprise, judged proportionally rather than against a fixed figure. The enterprise has to be a real and active commercial undertaking producing goods or services for profit, not an idle holding of land or a paper company waiting for a decision. Repairs shift the budget, delay the first customer, and raise questions about what was actually committed and what remains negotiable with the seller or landlord. The evidence that answers marginality is payroll: employees already on the books of an acquired business, or a staffing plan in a new one with dates, roles and wage figures that the enterprise's projected revenue can actually carry. Substantiality is evaluated in relation to the cost of the enterprise, so a budget should distinguish acquisition price, equipment, inventory, start-up expenditure and working capital.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.