The official page describes fee, vetting, gift and then the EB-1 or EB-2 petition and visa process; it does not promise a timeline. You can keep running the business throughout, since no U.S. status is conferred until the immigrant visa issues, but plan for residence obligations afterward.
Nothing changes in Canada until the visa issues
A pending Gold Card application confers no status. The contractor can continue to live in White City, run his company and travel to the United States as a visitor within the usual limits. Once the immigrant petition is approved and a visa number is available, the family completes consular processing and enters as permanent residents, and at that point the obligations begin: U.S.
residence, worldwide tax filing, and the need to avoid extended absences that suggest abandonment. Owning and managing a Saskatchewan company from the United States is possible but has tax and corporate consequences on both sides that should be planned before the visa, not after. Check the Visa Bulletin for EB-1 and EB-2 availability for Canadian-born applicants, which has generally been current but should be confirmed.
Re-read the official page immediately before each payment, since the program's terms and sequence are described as subject to change. Hypothetical example: A water-treatment consulting firm owner wants to keep operating the Canadian business while evaluating a move. The first review should distinguish a proposal, a payment decision, an immigrant-petition filing and the later residence process, because none of the earlier steps grants work or residence permission.
The current official program materials and the underlying petition record settle where the case stands. A payment by the applicant to the U.S. government is not a conventional visa and does not eliminate visa-number or consular-processing steps.
Before changing travel patterns or business management, obtain cross-border tax advice and confirm the terms again.