P.E.I.’s now-defunct immigrant partner program supposedly saw immigrants invest up to $200,000 in businesses in which they then played an active management role. University of King’s College students investigated and found partnerships that existed mostly on paper.

At first, it was a quite, bureaucratic struggle, but by 2008, gloves came off as Ottawa forced an end to P.E.I.'s Immigrant Partner program.

Immigrants were put on the boards of directors of companies, giving them legal liabilities, but according to one expert, no requirement to play a management role.

The Immigrant Partner program was supposed to pair up immigrants with the business they invested in. For Ellie Yue, working in a flower shop would be ideal.

While P.E.I.'s Immigrant Partner program floundered amid allegations of misuse, western-Canadian nominee programs flourished as they focused on attracting workers.

Despite an influx of immigrants into Prince Edward Island, a traditional culture is resistant to change.

The P.E.I. government has refused to release a list of businesses that participated in the Immigrant Partner program, so King's students got creative.