Not necessarily. A pending renewal can be presented as a known variable with the landlord's correspondence and the contingency behind it. Assess whether the unresolved terms materially affect lawful occupancy, costs or the credibility of the operating plan before choosing to file or wait. There is no guaranteed processing time, so build the schedule around evidence readiness rather than an assumed decision date.
Sequence signing, filing and travel
Set your own milestones: landlord consent received, renewal answered, funds transferred and traced, packet reviewed. Canadian citizens generally still need an E-2 visa, so allow for that step rather than assuming admission without one. Keep the intention to depart when status ends visible in the plan, and avoid commitments — staff start dates, equipment delivery, a family move — that assume approval on a particular day.
If the choice is genuinely open, weigh what each option costs when it goes wrong. Filing with the renewal unresolved risks a picture that changes after submission and then has to be explained; waiting for the renewal risks the funds sitting committed while nothing advances, and risks the other lease’s own dates arriving. Write down which of those two situations you would rather be explaining, then decide.
Neither route buys a decision on a chosen date.