No. Dependants hold TD status, which authorizes residence and study but no employment of any kind, and working remotely from inside the United States for a Canadian employer is still work performed there. Only a status that independently permits employment changes that answer.
Where the laptop is matters more than where the payroll is
Hypothetical example: Marilou would travel as the professional, and her spouse wants to keep the Quebec job he already holds. Households routinely assume that a Quebec salary paid into a Quebec bank account is unaffected by where the person sits. TD status does not distinguish by employer, currency or account.
If Marilou's spouse continues to log in from an American address and perform his ordinary duties, he is working in the United States without authorization, whatever his contract says. The permitted activities are narrower than people expect: he may live there, may study, and may of course wind up genuinely personal affairs. Two further constraints shape planning.
The relationship must be a legally recognized marriage, because a common-law partner is not a spouse for derivative purposes and needs an independent route. A child stops qualifying as a TD dependant at 21, so a household with a nineteen-year-old should map that birthday against the whole expected timetable now. Where a second income is essential, the family should compare this against categories whose spouses are employment-authorized incident to status, such as L-2 and E-2.
- USCIS: TN NAFTA Professionals
- U.S. Department of State: USMCA professional workers
- Department of State: 9 FAM 402.17, TN and TD guidance
- eCFR: 8 CFR 214.6, Citizens of Canada or Mexico seeking temporary entry as business persons
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule
- USCIS translation requirement, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)