TD does not authorize employment. The spouse needs a separate lawful basis permitting the actual services, regardless of how invoices are issued. The principal’s TN authorization cannot cover another person’s work merely because both serve the same customer.
Review two activities separately
Describe the spouse’s duties, citizenship and intended location of work. Assess any independent route before promising their availability. An unpaid assistance arrangement also needs review of the actual activity rather than an assumption based on family status.
Make two separate activity records: one for the TN professional and another for the accompanying spouse. TD dependants may study but cannot work, so invoicing through a Canadian account, serving the principal’s client, working remotely, or declining wages does not by itself make the activity permissible. Record each person’s citizenship independently; Canadian permanent residence is not Canadian citizenship and does not create TN eligibility. If the spouse wants to provide services, assess a separate status that authorizes those exact duties before accepting assignments. Meanwhile, the principal must still show Canadian or Mexican citizenship, a prearranged USMCA-listed professional role, the listing’s qualifications, and no US self-employment. The usual mistake is treating one household contract as shared immigration authorization.
Hypothetical example: A Sherbrooke urban planner obtains TN employment to prepare municipal-development studies, while her spouse, a French citizen and technical translator, hopes to invoice the same American consultancy from their US apartment. TD would not authorize his translation work. They should keep his nationality and proposed services distinct from her planning engagement, postpone his invoices, and determine whether he has an independent work-authorized route before the client lists both spouses on a project schedule.