The actual arrangement and professional activity need examination beyond the signatory’s name.
Read the employment and project records together
Identify who engages the professional, the work promised and the assignment terms. Do not describe the customer as the direct employer merely because its name is more recognizable.
Begin with the proposed duties, the payroll employer, the customer’s role, and the agreement governing supervision. TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, not Canadian permanent residence; a profession listed under USMCA; the exact education, licence, or experience prescribed for that profession; and prearranged professional work. A staffing signature cannot repair duties that fit no listed profession. It also cannot disguise self-employment through a United States entity the applicant owns or controls. The parties should make their offer, work order, reporting structure, location, and requested period agree before choosing either a Canadian applicant’s port-of-entry presentation or an employer-filed Form I-129 route.
Hypothetical example: a North Hatley geologist is hired by an engineering agency for a reservoir-modelling assignment performed for its customer. She should obtain an agency letter describing her geology duties, her degree evidence, the customer work order, and a clear account of who directs and pays her. If the customer instead expects general project sales, its statement undermines the professional classification despite the agency’s signature. She should have the organizations correct the real arrangement, rather than relabel the customer as her employer or combine incompatible descriptions.