Read the general professional work overview
A Les Cèdres applicant may receive an offer from one entity while proposed payroll records name another. Identify the actual arrangement before assuming the names are interchangeable or that either document alone settles the TN case. Two names on two documents is not automatically a problem, but it is always a question, and the question has to be answered by someone inside the group rather than inferred from the paperwork. Ask who the applicant would take instructions from, who could dismiss them, and whose name appears on the contract with the end client.
Identify each company’s actual role
Hypothetical example: a group uses an administrative payroll company while another entity offers the work. Ask the responsible parties to explain the genuine legal and work arrangements. Do not simply replace one name to make the documents look consistent. Hypothetical example: a turf agronomy business operates through a services company that carries the payroll for three related trading names. An agronomist receives an offer on one trading name's letterhead and a payroll enrolment form from the services company. Ask which entity will direct the work, which will pay, and which one the applicant's supervisor reports through. Then ask for the document showing the relationship between them, because a statement that they are all one group is not the same as evidence of who employs whom.
Preserve the professional conditions
TN requires Canadian or Mexican citizenship, a listed profession and its prescribed qualifications. Explain the actual duties, compensation and intended temporary period. Experience does not universally replace a required degree; degrees from institutions outside Canada, Mexico or the United States require reliable foreign-credential evaluation. Where the applicant's degree was awarded outside Canada, Mexico or the United States, arrange the credential evaluation before anything else in the file is finalised, since it can be the longest item and nothing downstream can be completed without it. Set the duty description against the profession's own requirements rather than against the job title used internally: the question is whether the duties fit a profession that appears on the list and whether the applicant holds that profession's prescribed qualification. Where the answer is uncertain, that uncertainty belongs in front of counsel and not in the offer letter.
Assess control and the applicable process
Services to a U.S. entity solely owned or controlled by the applicant fall within the prohibited TN arrangement. A payroll intermediary does not automatically resolve actual control. If an existing employer arrangement changes, assess the required process before relying on the new work; a common group name is not unrestricted authorization. Write down, in one sentence each, who owns the entity the services will be supplied to and what interest the applicant holds in it, if any. A payroll intermediary changes who issues the pay statement; it does not change who controls the entity or who benefits from the work. Where the applicant already works for the group under some other arrangement, note the date any change of employer, duties or location would take effect and raise it before the change happens, since the process required for a change is easier to address in advance than to explain afterwards.
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.