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CAMBRIDGE · E-2 FIELD GUIDE

Does transferring money to a business account prove commitment?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

Not automatically. Assess the actual control, obligations and risk. A transfer record alone may not show that funds are sufficiently committed to the enterprise.

Explain what changed legally

Identify whether money remains unrestricted or is subject to genuine commercial terms. Do not rely only on the account’s business name.

What matters is the commercial activity the company itself conducts — sales, distribution, customer service, product management — together with substantial committed at-risk capital, non-marginality, treaty nationality and at least fifty percent treaty ownership. Investor and enterprise must share treaty nationality—Canadian citizenship rather than Canadian permanent residence for that claim—with at least 50% treaty-national ownership, while the investor ordinarily establishes development and direction through at least 50% ownership, operational control, or other means. The enterprise must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the treaty country, so an equal split leaves no margin, and the applicant must still be able to develop and direct the business despite the partner holding the other half. Ownership of half or more answers it straightforwardly; something short of half can sometimes be supplemented by operational control, such as a managerial position with genuine authority or a voting arrangement that gives the investor the decisive say.