Read the general life across the border overview
Hypothetical example: Priscilla, a registered nurse in Orillia, is moving to a U.S. hospital on TN. Her husband, Owen, is a licensed electrician who expects to find trade work once they arrive. Their children are 12 and 19. As a TD dependant Owen cannot work at all, and electrician is not a USMCA-listed profession, so he has no TN of his own. The family's plan has to be built on each member's real status. Hypothetical example: A Canadian actuary accepts a U.S. position and is moving with a spouse who plans to work and a child who will start college. The household must decide whether the principal route gives each dependant a workable status, rather than assuming that a single approval creates identical work and study rights. A written family timeline makes the hidden constraints visible.
TD dependants live and study; they do not work
Owen and the children can accompany Priscilla in TD status for as long as her TN lasts. TD permits residence and study — the 12-year-old can enrol in school and the 19-year-old can attend college as a dependant — but it carries no employment authorization of any kind. Owen cannot take a job with a U.S. contractor, cannot work as a self-employed electrician, and should not assume that working remotely for his Ontario employer from a U.S. address is safe without advice. Comparisons with L-2 or E-2 spouses do not help him: those spouses are work-authorized incident to status; TD spouses are not. Before accepting, list the spouse’s nationality, visa procedure and intended employment. The employment rule for a dependant differs by category, so the couple should not make financial commitments on an assumption drawn from another route.
His trade does not give him a route of his own under the treaty
The USMCA professional list covers degree- or licence-based professions such as engineer, nurse and accountant; skilled trades are not on it, so Owen cannot obtain TN in his own name however qualified he is. If working matters, his options depend on an employer willing to sponsor a category that fits a tradesperson, which is uncommon, or on the family choosing a different principal route — for example, if Priscilla's employer were part of a group that could later transfer her under L-1, Owen would be an L-2 spouse with work authorization. That is speculative; the honest starting point is that TD means no work. For the college-bound child, compare the child’s age with program dates and the requirements of any independent student classification. School admission is not itself proof that derivative status will remain available.
The 19-year-old has a deadline the parents do not
The older child qualifies as a TD dependant only while unmarried and under 21. If Priscilla's contract runs two years, that child will age out midway and lose TD status on the birthday. Planning should begin before departure: a student classification for college, arranged with the school's designated official and the SEVP process, is the usual answer, and it should be in place before the twenty-first birthday rather than applied for afterwards. The younger child has years of headroom. Each family member's route is their own; Priscilla's approval carries the others only within the limits of TD. The key decision is whether the family needs parallel applications from the outset. A route that works for the principal may still leave a spouse unable to work or an older child facing a near-term status change.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.