Read the general eligibility basics overview
Hypothetical example: in a Mount Pearl household one spouse is a Canadian citizen and the other holds a PR card and a third-country passport. In that household, the citizen can pursue TN or E-2 on the strength of citizenship, while the permanent resident cannot use either in his own right, because a PR card is not citizenship. He may accompany her as a dependant, subject to visa requirements based on his own nationality, but cannot work in TD status. His nationality may open a separate door if it is a treaty country, and his Canadian residency obligation keeps running abroad.
Read the two documents for what they prove
Take the pharmacist described elsewhere on this site and her husband, who runs a repair shop. Her passport proves she is eligible for TN if the job and credential fit, and that she counts as a Canadian national for E-2 ownership. His PR card proves he may live and work in Canada, and nothing more for U.S. purposes. TN is closed to him regardless of his qualifications, and his share of a U.S. enterprise would not count toward the Canadian-ownership test for E-2. His own passport is the document that determines whether he needs a visa to enter the United States as her dependant and whether his birth country is itself an E-2 treaty country.
Map the dependant route and its limits
As the spouse of a TN professional he may apply for TD status. Because he is not a Canadian citizen he is not visa-exempt, and he would normally apply for a TD visa at a consulate before travelling, using her TN evidence and their marriage certificate. TD permits residence and study but not employment, so running the Mount Pearl repair shop from a U.S. address is not available to him as discussed on the TN pages. If she were transferred under L-1A instead, he would be an L-2 spouse and employment-authorized incident to status, which may change which route the household prefers when both are open. A dependant's status always follows the principal's, so his plans should be built on the assumption that they end when hers does.
Keep the Canadian side of his status alive
Canadian permanent residence carries a residency obligation, generally two years of physical presence in Canada in every five-year period, with limited exceptions such as accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse abroad. Whether that exception applies to a particular household is a Canadian immigration question to confirm before the move, because a permanent resident who loses status while abroad may find it difficult to return to Mount Pearl later. Citizenship, if he is eligible, would remove the problem and open TN and E-2 in his own name, but the application takes time and the household should not assume it will complete before her start date. Record his dates of presence in Canada now; the count is easier to keep than to reconstruct.
What else is on your mind?
Does Canadian permanent residence give me access to TN?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?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.