An expected citizenship date is not a reliable substitute for confirmed eligibility and completed U.S. authorization steps. Treat a TN-dependent start as conditional while citizenship remains unfinished. The employer should understand that the Canadian process and the U.S. work decision are separate dependencies.
Use milestones that can be verified
Distinguish applying for citizenship, obtaining citizenship and assembling the documents required for the selected U.S. route. This overview does not forecast the Canadian process or decide which evidence will be available at each stage.
Once nationality can be established, reassess whether the original offer, credentials and temporary plans remain accurate. Keep preparation moving where it is useful, but do not start U.S. employment while waiting for citizenship or treat an employer deadline as an exception to TN requirements.
Build the schedule on events that can be evidenced rather than on an expected decision from a separate government process whose timing nobody controls. A useful milestone is documentary: the citizenship certificate in hand, the passport issued, the employer's written confirmation of the profession. Until such a milestone is reached, treat any start date as provisional and say so to everyone relying on it.
Where an employer presses for a date, offer a review point instead — a specific day on which the position will be reassessed — which gives the company something to plan around without anyone committing to a fiction. Avoid resigning, terminating a lease or withdrawing a child from school against an anticipated document. Should the position change, the route still requires assessment on the facts as they then stand rather than proceeding automatically.