TD status does not authorize employment in the United States, and work performed from US soil for Canadian clients is still work in the United States. The spouse may study on TD. Any continuing paid work needs its own status, such as a TN in a listed profession if the spouse qualifies.
Where the keyboard sits decides whose rule applies
Hypothetical example: the CPA's spouse runs a small bookkeeping practice for West Kelowna orchards and plans to keep invoicing those clients from the family's new Washington address. The clients are Canadian and the money is paid into a Canadian account, but the work would be performed inside the United States by a person whose TD status carries no employment authorization. That is unauthorized work regardless of where the invoice goes. The realistic options are to wind down the practice, to hand it to a Canadian associate, or to examine whether the spouse independently qualifies for a TN. TD does allow full-time or part-time study, which some spouses use to complete the credential that later supports their own application. Children on TD follow the same rule: school is permitted, employment is not, and each child's status ends at 21 regardless of the principal's remaining period.
Hypothetical example: the accompanying spouse owns a drone-survey studio and proposes to keep conducting paid roof inspections after the family relocates. The decisive fact is where the person performs the work, not the currency of the invoice or the clients' addresses. Before departure, the family should decide whether the studio will pause, be transferred to a person working from Canada, or support a separate immigration strategy. A service agreement, calendar and client communications can show whether the spouse has actually ceased U.S.-based work. Calling the activity occasional, unpaid marketing or help for a Canadian business does not create work permission in TD status.