Not usually as two independent principals for one enterprise; typically one spouse is the investor who develops and directs, and the other holds E-2 dependant status. The E-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and can work in the business or anywhere else.
Choose the principal by control, and the spouse still gets to work
Because the E-2 spouse's employment authorization is broad, there is rarely a reason to force both spouses into the principal role. Decide which spouse will hold the controlling interest and the managerial position that the application describes, and document the other's ownership share honestly. The dependant spouse may work in the business, take outside employment, or continue a Canadian practice from the United States. Children under 21 may attend school and may not work; a child approaching 21 needs a separate plan, because E-2 dependant status ends at that birthday and there is no permanent-residence path within E-2 to carry them. Hypothetical example: an East Hants couple splits ownership fifty-fifty and each plans to apply as a principal. The cleaner file names one investor with operational control under the shareholder agreement and lists the other as spouse, avoiding two applications that each claim to direct the same company.
Hypothetical example: an East Hants couple acquire a solar-battery repair shop and both want to direct daily work. The first review should select the principal based on the operating agreement, signing authority, and actual management role, then preserve the spouse's accurate ownership position. Minutes, bank mandates, and the shareholder agreement settle control more reliably than a fifty-fifty label. Their teenager's school plan and age-out date belong in the same review, because a successful business application does not extend dependant status past age 21.