Assess the actual authority and decision arrangements. A percentage is relevant but does not by itself answer every development-and-direction question.
Explain how the business will be directed
Identify genuine management powers and any restrictions. Do not describe exclusive authority if the proposed agreement provides shared or limited decisions. An equal two-party venture can establish development and direction through equal management rights and responsibilities; exclusive control is not universally required. Assess whether the agreement actually gives those rights.
The enterprise must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the treaty country, and the investor must additionally develop and direct it, which ordinarily means majority ownership or demonstrated operational control. Create an eligibility table covering treaty nationality of investor and enterprise, ownership or control, lawful funding, irrevocable commitment, operations, and nonmarginality. Deposits already paid, equipment already bought and the lease already signed all count as committed; a balance sitting in a Canadian account does not.Set ownership out by nationality and percentage before incorporating or transferring shares. The investor must also develop and direct the enterprise, which at half ownership is normally accepted, though a deadlocked structure with no decision-making mechanism invites questions worth avoiding.