TD does not authorize employment, even when the family member signs the project’s confidentiality agreement.
Separate access permission from immigration permission
A company’s permission to view information or assist does not supply a lawful US work basis. Assess the spouse’s actual proposed activity and any separate route before services begin.
Treat every task the spouse might perform as work even if it is brief, unpaid, remote, or covered by the same confidentiality agreement. TD dependants may study, but TD status does not permit employment. Access credentials, foreign payroll, or a promise to help the principal meet a deadline cannot change that rule. List the spouse’s proposed activities, where they will physically be performed, who benefits, and whether a separate work-authorized status is needed before any service begins. The principal must independently show citizenship of Canada or Mexico, an occupation named by USMCA with its required credentials, and prearranged US employment rather than self-employment; Canadian permanent residence alone is insufficient. The common mistake is treating family assistance as informal and never testing it against the spouse’s actual immigration status.
Hypothetical example: A Sainte-Rose-du-Nord geologist receives a TN assignment involving restricted mineral-testing data. Her spouse in TD may read public material or study, but cannot clean project datasets from their US home. The couple postpones that task unless the spouse obtains an independent status that authorizes the planned work.