Review the actual ownership and governance arrangements as well as the percentage.
Identify what the investor can actually direct
Explain voting rights, management powers and material reserved decisions. Enterprise treaty nationality and the applicant’s ability to develop and direct are related but distinct conditions, and neither should be assumed from a label alone.
Read the capitalization table together with voting thresholds, board appointment rights, deadlock clauses, and reserved matters. Treaty nationality must be established for both the applicant and the enterprise’s qualifying ownership; Canadian permanent residence alone does not prove Canadian nationality. The investor must develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily by owning no less than half or possessing operational control. Separately trace lawful funds that are irrevocably committed and at risk, test substantiality relative to the business, and show a real operating enterprise that is not marginal. E-2 provides no direct route to a green card. The frequent mistake is stopping at “51 percent owner” without asking whether contractual vetoes leave the applicant unable to direct essential operations.
Hypothetical example: A greenhouse operator from Saint-Charles-de-Bourget proposes owning 55 percent of a produce-growing company, while the minority investor can veto budgets, hiring, and supplier contracts. Before filing, she obtains the signed governance documents, maps which decisions each party can make, and revises the business plan to match the operative agreement. She also preserves nationality and funds evidence. Majority ownership supports the analysis, but the combined veto structure determines whether she can actually develop and direct the enterprise.