Establish each seller’s ownership and the lawful arrangement permitting use of the spouse’s portion. Marriage does not automatically make every jointly received dollar available to one investor. Your spouse’s decision to remain in Quebec does not itself prevent funding, but any genuine transfer or gift needs an accurate source and ownership record. Settle the ownership question on paper before deciding who travels. If part of the proceeds belongs to the spouse and will fund the investment, the transfer needs its own instrument — a gift deed or a loan agreement — dated, signed and consistent with what the closing statement shows. Deciding this after filing invites a question nobody wants to answer twice.
Discuss contribution authority separately from relocation
Keep the allocation of sale proceeds distinct from the family’s immigration choices. If the spouse later seeks derivative immigration, relationship, admissibility and the applicable process will need their own review. For the immediate closing, identify the amount retained for the spouse’s household needs and the amount validly committed to the investment; do not create a gift narrative merely because both names appear on an account.
A separate decision concerns the family’s future options rather than today’s funding. If the spouse may later seek derivative status, the marriage, admissibility and the applicable process each need their own assessment, and none of that follows automatically from having contributed money. Keep the funding instrument and the family’s immigration planning in different conversations, so neither is bent to suit the other.