I don't think I'll ever know for sure. This might be 'too much info' but to answer your question: there were no reports of complicating factors, no requests for additional information, no disputes to resolve, have been in the Canada under valid or maintained status the entire time (as Student), have never left Canada (not even for short vacations), no trouble with the law, no participation in foreign military or other groups (just soccer ;-)), no issues with name, all ID's & passports up to date, addresses all up to date, no medical or biometric issues, checked online account regularly, called IRCC for status updates, got a representative involved, sent a registered letter to processing office to inquire about status/progress, inquired through MP, etc. The only correspondence I received the entire time were 2 automated emails in late November 2021 (almost 3 years into the Work application and almost 2 years into the Study application) stating that my applications were still in progress and there was no need to do anything. As I said before, when I was 19, I misunderstood the requirements for a Work permit (money from home was delayed but eventually arrived). After the lengthy delay and finding a representative, I was pretty sure it would be rejected, and eventually, about 2 weeks apart in July/August 2022, they denied the Work permit & then approved the Study permit (with Work permit), presumably catching up from Covid delays.