Read the general life across the border overview
Colwood households should identify each person’s eligibility and actual status even when an employer or provider offers to organize the move as a single package. The decision growing families face is timing. A child born in the United States after admission is a US citizen and needs no derivative status, while a child born in Canada before departure needs TD from the start; a spouse whose trade is not a listed profession will hold TD and cannot work during either period.
Check employment person by person
TD does not permit work. Qualifying E and L spouses may have work permission incident to appropriate status with required evidence; dependent children do not receive the spouse permission. A staffing plan or family invoice is not authorization.
Keep immigrant eligibility visible
Review relationships and case-specific age rules, including CSPA where relevant. Immigrant-visa derivatives enter with or after the principal; a shared itinerary does not override that order or resolve eligibility. A child generally ages out at 21 unless a rule such as CSPA preserves eligibility.
Read the family charges accurately
Gold Card requires a US$1 million gift and US$15,000 nonrefundable processing for each eligible included spouse or child, including corporate cases. A quotation cannot waive those amounts or establish that official payment has occurred. Eligible children generally must be unmarried and under 21; assess any applicable CSPA protection on the individual case facts.
Hypothetical example: a dietitian, a carpenter and a baby due mid-contract
Hypothetical example: a Colwood registered dietitian, a Canadian citizen, accepts a two-year US hospital position under TN. Her husband is a carpenter, their daughter is three, and a second child is due five months after the planned start date. The package the employer offers describes parental leave and family health coverage, none of which touches immigration. Her TN depends on the profession’s own degree or licence requirement plus the state licence or eligibility where she will work. The husband enters as TD and may not work; carpentry is not a listed TN profession, so an independent TN is not open to him, and his Canadian trade ticket has no immigration effect. The three-year-old is a TD child. The baby, if born in the United States, is a US citizen from birth and is never a TD; the family will need a US passport for the child before any cross-border trip, and a Canadian citizenship record if they intend to return. Decide early whether the husband will spend the contract without employment income.
Sequence the family’s records around the birth
Before entry, gather the marriage certificate, the daughter’s birth certificate and every passport, and confirm that both adults are Canadian citizens rather than permanent residents, since a permanent-resident spouse generally needs a consular TD visa. After the birth, obtain the US birth certificate and passport before travelling to Canada, and keep the daughter’s TD records current with the principal’s own period of admission. A TD spouse who later wants to work has to find a route of his own; an employer’s willingness to hire him or a staffing shortage does not create one. If the family instead considers an E-2 business where the spouse would be employment-authorized, the enterprise must be real, the funds irrevocably committed, and the ownership and direction theirs.
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.