TD does not authorize employment, including work described as consulting.
Review the spouse’s actual work basis
A client contract or professional background does not itself provide US work permission. Assess the spouse’s proposed activity and independent authorization rather than assume the principal’s classification covers the household.
Separate the principal’s TN case from every activity the accompanying spouse plans to perform. TD status is available to a qualifying spouse and children, but it does not authorize employment; calling services occasional, remote, unpaid, or consulting does not settle whether they constitute US work. The family should document the marriage or parent-child relationship, passports, and the principal’s status, then identify where each spouse’s customers, duties, and business operations will be located. If work is intended, assess an independent classification before it begins. Remember that TN itself requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, qualifying listed professional work arranged in advance, and the profession’s particular credentials; a Canadian PR card does not replace citizenship.
Hypothetical example: An architectural technologist living around Petit-Saguenay plans a TN assignment while the accompanying spouse continues paid translation projects for American publishers. The couple records where the translations occur, who directs them, and how invoices are issued. They do not assume a laptop-based activity is harmless under TD. If the spouse has no separate authorization for the proposed US work, the projects should be paused. The principal also keeps the employer letter and credential record separate from the spouse’s business materials.