Treaty nationality held by the applicant and, where relevant, by the investing company's owners. Then a real operating enterprise the applicant will develop and direct, capital substantial in proportion to it and irrevocably committed at risk, and an enterprise capable of more than marginal returns. Residence in Canada alone establishes none of these.
Stop at the nationality question if it fails
There is no point pricing businesses or comparing sectors while citizenship is unresolved, because a failed nationality test ends the route regardless of how strong the venture is. Check passports first. If the applicant holds a treaty nationality through a second citizenship, confirm it is current and documented.
If nobody in the ownership group holds one, ask what other categories might fit the person's circumstances before any capital is committed anywhere. There is an ordering point beneath that advice worth making explicit. Nationality is binary and answerable in minutes; the enterprise questions are matters of degree and take weeks.
Answering the binary question first therefore costs almost nothing and can save everything else. Where the applicant does hold a treaty nationality through a second citizenship, check that the passport is current and that the country remains on the treaty list, since lists change. Where a company would invest, map the shareholders and their nationalities at the same time, because the enterprise's own treaty character is a separate condition from the individual applicant's.