Not automatically. Separate actual qualifying capital, future projections, fees and personal expenses.
Review what each figure means
Clarify professional preparation and current official charges. A larger forecast does not itself satisfy substantiality or other enterprise requirements.
Money irrevocably committed to acquiring or operating the enterprise counts: purchase price, equipment, inventory, lease deposits and working capital placed in the business. Rent already paid, fit-out at both sites, equipment, and non-refundable deposits are business costs that may form part of the investment picture; refundable or escrowed amounts require fact-specific review before anyone treats them as at risk. Transaction costs that are not part of the qualifying investment: legal fees on both sides of the border, valuation and due diligence, environmental assessment on a working waterfront site, and the visa or petition fees themselves. The investment must be substantial in relation to the total cost of purchasing or establishing this particular enterprise, so a modest business requires a proportionally high commitment rather than a large absolute sum. A rights payment gets quoted, invoiced and paid, so it feels like the investment, while the working capital that keeps the business alive is estimated, unbilled and correspondingly easy to leave out of the total.