Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Ask the seller what you are actually buying
Establish whether the transaction is shares or assets, what is included, and what is leased rather than owned. Hypothetical example: the yard's forklift and delivery truck sit on leases that do not transfer, and the land belongs to the seller's family personally rather than to the business. Both facts change the price and the investment analysis. Ask for three years of financial statements and tax returns, the premises lease, the supplier accounts, the employee list with hours worked, and any liabilities that follow the business to a new owner. Test the purchase terms against the money trail. A refundable promise may be commercially sensible but does not show the same commitment as a binding, loss-exposed obligation.
Make the money committed rather than available
An investment exists when funds are irrevocably committed and placed at risk. A signed agreement conditioned only on the immigration decision, with the price paid into escrow that releases to the seller on approval, achieves that. Money sitting in a Canadian account, an approved but undrawn loan, or a letter of intent do not. Keep the source records for every dollar — business sale proceeds, a mortgage advance, savings — and keep the path clean, because the reviewer follows it from origin to escrow rather than accepting a summary of it. Forecast staffing, revenue, and household withdrawals separately. Combining them can conceal whether the enterprise is expected to have economic activity beyond the investor's own living.
Test substantiality and marginality against this business
Substantiality is proportional: a modest purchase price requires a high proportion of it to be invested, and the working capital, inventory and improvements the business genuinely needs form part of the picture. Marginality asks whether the enterprise will do more than provide a living for the investor and family. A yard with existing employees and supplier contracts answers that question more easily than a start-up does, so obtain the payroll records and set out the hiring the business will support over roughly the next five years. Record treaty nationality for every owner and decision-maker. Residence, incorporation location, and a familiar business name do not answer the ownership-nationality question.
Show that you will develop and direct it
The investor must develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least fifty percent ownership or through demonstrated operational control. Where two people buy together, set out who holds what and who manages. If the seller stays on through a transition, describe the arrangement and its end date so that it does not read as continuing control by him. Record the decisions the buyers will actually make: purchasing, pricing, hiring, credit terms. A passive stake in a business somebody else runs will not support this category. Do not set a closing date solely from an anticipated visa outcome. Contract contingencies, consular processing, premises work, and supplier lead times each have their own calendar.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.