Gather identity and relationship documents while keeping major moving commitments flexible. Ask the institution when it expects to resolve the funding condition, then compare that date with school and housing deadlines. An estimate should remain an estimate in the household plan.
Plan for a funding gap without assuming TD employment
A spouse in TD may study but cannot rely on TD as employment authorization. If grant uncertainty creates a gap in household income, identify savings, confirmed institutional support or a separately reviewed work option. Do not budget on a spouse immediately accepting US work through dependent status.
Household decisions divide neatly into the ones you can undo and the ones you cannot, and that split should drive the calendar. Viewing a rental, enquiring at a school and obtaining a quote from a mover are all reversible. Ending a lease, giving up a child's school place and selling a vehicle are not.
Hypothetical example: the spouse of a medical laboratory technologist resigns a Canadian post in anticipation of TD status, then finds that TD authorises no employment of any kind and that study, while generally permitted, replaces none of the lost income. Keep the irreversible household steps behind the same gate as the applicant's notice period. Ask the institution for the date on which it will either confirm or withdraw the appointment, and put that date at the top of the family list instead of the proposed start date.