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LA PRAIRIE · TN FIELD GUIDE

Could a spouse continue freelance writing from the United States on TD?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. TD permits study but does not authorize employment, and that includes remote or freelance work performed while in the United States, whether the client and payment sit in Canada or elsewhere. A spouse who intends to keep working needs their own authorization on a separate basis.

Treat the spouse's work as a separate case

Households where both people write or consult often assume remote clients fall outside the rules. They do not; the work is performed in the United States regardless of where the client sits. If the spouse intends to keep earning, raise it with counsel early, since an independent basis takes its own preparation time and may affect whether the move makes sense on one income.

Two details are usually missed. Payment into a Canadian account does not change where the work is performed, and neither does invoicing through a Canadian corporation the spouse owns. What is examined is the activity carried out while the person is in the United States.

Hypothetical example: a spouse who runs a small pharmacovigilance consulting practice and expects to keep drafting periodic safety reports for Canadian clients from a home office in the United States is describing work performed in the United States, whatever the client's address. Ask counsel what the spouse may and may not do while an independent basis is being prepared, and obtain that answer before the household commits to a moving date.