Each person’s travel, status and intended activities require individual planning. The principal’s work schedule does not establish another family member’s permission. The principal’s assignment is settled before the household’s arrangements are worth fixing. Whether the family relocates, stays in Canada or splits depends on the length and location of an assignment the employer has not necessarily finalised. Ask the company for the assignment letter with its start date and duration first; a lease, a school registration or a moving date agreed ahead of it is a commitment made against an unknown.
Check the status actually held
Qualifying L spouses are employment authorized incident to status with appropriate documentation. Children do not gain work authorization solely through L dependent status. Do not assume a person entering under a different status receives L spouse rights because the principal is commuting.
A commuting principal often has dependents who are not commuting, and the two situations are governed separately. Each family member holds whatever status was actually granted to that person, with its own validity period and its own permitted activities; nothing is inherited from the principal’s travel pattern. Where dependents remain in Canada while the principal travels, confirm what each would need if the arrangement later reverses, and confirm it before the first admission rather than during a subsequent one.
A spouse intending to work should have the documentation supporting that work identified in advance, since it depends on the status held and the documents issued.