Hello raul,
I had a fruitful meeting at the Canadian High Commission in London with a representative at the Ontario Commercial dept today in which we discussed the possibility of setting up & running a business in Canada (Ontario specifically in my case) both after obtaining a business investor visa and before . It is apparently possible to do this before getting a visa but you couldn?t pay yourself as you wouldn?t be allowed to work without the visa. Any income would have tax implications possibly in both Canada & the UK.
It is obviously better (& less risky) to have a visa then you are guaranteed the right to buy & run your own cantina business. If you do it before getting the visa you have to seriously consider the prospect of failing to be accepted.
Now on the business investor or entrepreneur route, provided you meet all the criteria a visa should just be a matter of applying & waiting your turn . But - if you get a criminal record in the meantime & a drink driving conviction would count for the purposes of visa acceptance or fail the medical you can kiss your visa goodbye. For this reason I would say under normal circumstances, as Jim says , its best to wait for the visa.
However if you have the means to buy the business right away and have someone ( a Canadian resident or citizen) to run it for you whilst you make periodic visits to check up on things then there is nothing to stop you doing do. I strongly recommend you speak to the Canada - Uk chamber of commerce in London, I did and they will put you in touch with the relevant people to talk to in Alberta. - Nigel Bacon , Executive Director Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce nigel.bacon @ canada-UK.org (naturally they would wish for you to join the chamber! but I found that they are helpful nonetheless even if you choose not to )
Also, do have a word with Nupad.ca they?re relocation experts as advertised on here and can also help to point you in the right direction.
Enjoy!!
