Manitoba is beefing up its provincial nominee program for business immigrants.

It is tightening up the process of bringing business people and their families to Manitoba to buy, start or join in a business.

The changes are based on recommendations from the auditor general and include tweaks to the application process and to the monitoring of applicants once they arrive.

There will also be more stringent procedures to check on the validity of applications.

The deposit required will go up by $25,000, and there will be a new program to recruit farmer immigrants.

The changes take effect in the fall.

The province says since the first applicants for the provincial nominee business program arrived in 1999, 593 businesses have started, with more than $214 million in investments in Manitoba.

CBC News