IN THIS GUIDE · E-2 for Guelph/Eramosa buyers: seller financing, seasonal marginality and a fifty-fifty deal with no control
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Seller financing secured on the business is not investment
E-2 requires that the investor has invested or is actively investing capital that is irrevocably committed and subject to loss. Funds borrowed on the security of the business assets being acquired are not counted as the investor's capital, because the investor risks nothing personally if the business fails. A seller note secured against the garden centre's inventory and equipment therefore reduces the investment to the cash paid. Personally secured borrowing, such as a loan against the buyer's Canadian nursery property or home, can count because the investor bears the risk. Renegotiate so that the qualifying capital is the buyer's own or personally secured, and hold it in an escrow that releases on visa issuance so it is committed without being lost if the visa is refused.
Substantial and not marginal, for a business that sleeps in winter
The investment must be substantial in proportion to the cost of establishing or purchasing the business, and the enterprise must not be marginal, meaning it must have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to support the investor and family, or to make a significant economic contribution such as employing US workers. A garden centre with strong spring revenue and a quiet winter must show annual figures and staffing that demonstrate it is a real operating business with employees, not a livelihood for one family. Bring the seller's tax returns, payroll records and a five-year projection that explains how landscape-design contracts fill the off-season.
Fifty percent with no tie-break is not control
The investor must develop and direct the enterprise. Ownership of at least fifty percent is ordinarily sufficient. In a two-party fifty-fifty joint venture or equal partnership, control can exist through negative control when each party retains full management rights and responsibilities; a casting vote is not invariably required. Nationality also matters: at least fifty percent of the enterprise must be owned by treaty nationals, so the Canadian investor's exact half can satisfy that threshold while the US friend's half does not count toward it. The shareholder agreement must not strip the Canadian investor of management authority, and any increase in the friend's stake above fifty percent would defeat treaty nationality.
What the category does not do
E-2 is a nonimmigrant category with no direct path to permanent residence. It can be renewed while the business continues to qualify, and the investor's spouse is employment-authorized incident to status, while children under twenty-one may study but not work. Canadian citizens apply for the E-2 visa at a US consulate with a full business case; the port-of-entry procedure used for TN does not apply. Plan the consular timeline into the purchase agreement rather than promising the seller a closing date the consulate has not agreed to.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.