Recognized management experience means two years of planning, directing and controlling resources, within the five years before the application. A job title is not enough. The Ministry looks at the functions actually performed and at the lawfulness of the setting. The requirement applies to the Investor Program and to the Start-up business profile of stream 2.
The regulatory definition
Section 1 of the Quebec Immigration Regulation defines management experience. It is the exercise of planning, directing and controlling functions over financial resources. Those functions must also bear on human or material resources placed under your authority.
The same definition excludes experience acquired through an apprenticeship. It also excludes training or specialization sanctioned by a diploma. A management internship or an MBA program therefore does not count.
The immigration procedures guide states that the three functions must be performed together (GPI, section 3.4). Performing only part of them does not meet the condition.
Two years within five: the calculation
The period is counted backwards from the date the application is filed. The two years may be consecutive or not, provided they fall within the five-year window.
The guide indicates that eligibility rests on the duration of the management functions, and not only on the number of hours worked per week.
The requirement, program by program
The requirement is not worded the same way from one program to the next. The table below sets out, for each, the kind of experience required and its source.
| Program | Experience requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Investors | Management, 2 years within the last 5 | Section 37 of the Regulation |
| Entrepreneurs, stream 2, Start-up business | Business management, 2 years within the last 5 | Section 52 of the Regulation |
| Self-employed workers | Self-employed experience in the profession, not management experience | Conditions page |
For the rest of the path, see our pieces on the Investor Program, on stream 2 Start a business and on net worth in business immigration.
Business owner or holder of a management position
The guide requires documents showing at least two years in management positions. That requirement applies whether or not you owned the business. A salaried director can therefore qualify.
Ownership alone proves nothing. A passive shareholder who takes no part in management does not perform the planning, directing and controlling functions. Conversely, a salaried executive must show real authority over a budget and over staff or property.
The evidence to gather
The precise list of documents appears in the application form for each program. The items below are the ones generally used to establish the functions and their duration.
| Situation | Usual evidence |
|---|---|
| Owner of a corporation | Articles, shareholder and director registers, resolutions, financial statements |
| Salaried manager | Employer letter detailing the functions, organization chart, employment contract |
| Actual activity of the business | Tax returns, permits and authorizations, business bank statements |
| Authority over resources | Signing delegations, approved budgets, list of employees supervised |
| A consistent account | Narrative document describing each job, the functions and the dates |
The narrative document drafting guide asks, for each job, for the activity of the business, the position and the duration. That account must match the documents filed: see our piece on the narrative document.
The traps to avoid
Several profiles raise recurring questions when the time comes to demonstrate management functions.
A title without the means
The salaried executive with a senior title but no budget and no team under their authority.
A job title does not replace proof of the three functions.
The family business
The applicant appears as a partner, with no evidence of the functions actually performed.
What they decided, and over what, then has to be documented.
The very small structure
With no employees, authority over human or material resources is hard to show.
The definition covers human “or” material resources, so a business with no employees is not ruled out from the start.
The sole consultant
The consultant or professional practising alone, whose activity is closer to technical expertise.
Managing resources has to be distinguished from delivering services.
To these is added experience acquired in an ineligible sector, covered in the next section. In every one of these cases the general test applies: management functions must be proven with objective documents. For the small structure, evidence of authority over material and financial resources becomes decisive.
Lawfulness and ineligible sectors
Experience acquired in contravention of the law is not recognized. The guide targets a business whose lawfulness is not demonstrated, for instance for lack of the required authorizations. It also targets informal work, such as undeclared work.
The sectors that are ineligible for management experience are the following:
- Payday lending, cheque cashing and pawnbroking.
- The production, distribution or sale of pornographic or sexually explicit products.
- Sex industry services.
The sectors excluded for the business project itself are covered in a separate piece on the ineligible sectors of the Entrepreneur Program.
How MEKA AVOCAT works on this
We review your past functions against the regulatory definition. Where you held shares, we go through your minute books, your registers and your resolutions. Those documents often show who really ran the company.
The company’s financial statements can support the size of the budgets managed. Where needed, we coordinate with an accountant from our network to obtain consistent accounting records. We then check that your narrative document matches every piece of evidence.
If your experience does not meet the definition, we will tell you plainly. Another program, or postponing the application, may then be preferable to a filing that leads to a refusal.
Texts and sources
This article draws on the Quebec Immigration Regulation, in particular sections 1, 37 and 52, on the immigration procedures guide (section 3.4), on the conditions pages of the Investor Program, of stream 2 of the Entrepreneur Program and of the Self-employed Worker Program, and on the narrative document drafting guide published by Quebec’s ministry of immigration, francization and integration.
Frequently asked questions
Is a salaried director position recognized?
Yes. The guide recognizes the experience whether or not you were an owner, provided the three functions are demonstrated.
Does my MBA count as experience?
No. Training or specialization sanctioned by a diploma is excluded by the regulatory definition.
Do my two years have to be consecutive?
No. They can be accumulated, as long as they fall within the five years preceding the application.
Is being a shareholder enough?
No. Simply holding shares does not demonstrate the exercise of planning, directing and controlling functions.
Does your management experience hold up?
A meeting lets us measure your past functions against the regulatory definition and draw up the list of documents that prove them. If the experience falls short, we will say so before you file.
Next: the net worth required in business immigration, stream 2 Start a business and the Quebec Investor Program.
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Lawyer, member of the Barreau du Québec since 2014, founder of MEKA AVOCAT. This text sets out general legal information: it describes rules that apply broadly, not the answer to a particular case, and does not replace advice on your own situation.
