An unexercised option is different from shares already owned, but the complete current rights and agreements need review. Do not assume the control question arises only at exercise. TN prohibits the professional from supplying services to a US entity they solely or controllingly own; assess present and proposed ownership honestly.
Look ahead to the exercised position
TN still requires citizenship of Canada or Mexico, a qualifying listed profession with its specific credential requirements, prearranged professional employment, and temporary entry. Equity does not replace any of those. What it can do is undermine the employment relationship if the applicant ends up controlling the company being served.
Map the post-exercise ownership now, and ask counsel whether the planned position stays clear of that line. Vesting belongs to the compensation arrangement; control belongs to the corporate one. A schedule tells its holder when a contractual right becomes exercisable, and companies design those schedules to retain staff rather than to allocate authority.
TN asks something different: whether the professional would be supplying services to an entity they solely or controllingly own. Answering that needs the constating documents and the register, not the compensation plan. Reading them together suggests one useful test — assume every option in the applicant’s hands is exercised on a single day, then ask who decides the company’s direction that afternoon.
Where the answer is the applicant, the arrangement needs restructuring before an application rather than an explanation after one.