The US$15,000 processing fee per person is nonrefundable. The gift, US$1 million per person or US$2 million where a corporate sponsor gives for an employee, is a gift and is not returned, earns nothing and confers no ownership. Legal, tax and documentary costs sit on top of both.
Nothing here comes back, which is the whole point of the design
It is worth stating plainly because the comparison people reach for is an investment, and that comparison is wrong. Under the immigrant investor programme, capital is placed at risk in a business: it may be lost, and it may in principle be returned according to how the enterprise performs. Here, the gift is transferred to the U.S.
government and the transaction ends there. Add the professional costs that any responsible approach requires: legal assessment of the underlying classification, tax advice on both sides of the border about transferring that sum out of a Canadian corporation or personal holdings, and documentary work for every family member. Then add the possibility that vetting or the underlying classification does not succeed after the nonrefundable fee has been paid.
Current amounts and terms must be re-verified officially before any transfer.