Consular charges are modest and published by the Department of State, with an issuance fee applied according to reciprocity. The substantial costs sit outside the application: a business plan, an independent valuation, accounting and legal work on both sides of the border, and the fact that the category must be renewed rather than concluded.
Price the renewals, not only the first approval
An E-2 file is document-heavy in a way TN never is. A credible business plan with staffing and financial projections, a valuation supporting the price paid, corporate formation in the American state, a shareholders agreement drafted to establish operational control, and an accountant tracing the source of funds all cost money before anything is submitted. Because Canadians cannot be admitted in E status at a port of entry and must obtain the visa, consular processing adds its own timetable and travel.
What owners underestimate is the recurring nature of the commitment. Each renewal reopens the questions of nationality, marginality and the investor's continued direction of the business, so financial records must be maintained to that standard year after year. Against that, the enterprise itself is an asset, and an E-2 file is largely made of documents a careful buyer would produce anyway.