TD status provides no employment authorization. A household income gap does not change that condition.
Plan using actual permissions
Identify the spouse’s intended work and any independent lawful basis. Do not assume a small, temporary or unpaid US role is permitted because it is financially necessary.
Releasing a Canadian lease, resigning a position, declining a deferral and marrying all change the facts a later assessment must work from, and marriage ends the unmarried condition TD depends on whatever the child’s age. 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. Dependent status extends to unmarried children under twenty-one and permits study, but it does not authorize employment for them either, so an older teenager expecting summer work needs a separate answer. An eligible spouse or unmarried child under 21 may seek TD, but a spouse's proposed work in the United States requires a separate work-authorized route or classification, not an assumption based on the principal applicant's status. Note that TD permits study but does not authorize work, and proposed remote or unpaid activities require specific review, so a spouse's own credentials serve their plans rather than the TN file.