It is not a new trend... CPC Sydney, NS processes certain number of Citizenship applications in addition to the rest of the IRCC Domestic Network (DN). If you look at the FY 2022-23 ATIP for Citizenship Grant Targets, Centralized Network (CPC Sydney, NS) is assigned an overall target of 45,000 applications. The IRCC Domestic Network (DN) is assigned 253,000 application decision targets for a total of 285,000 decision targets for FY 2022-23. So, yes, some applications definitely get processed at CPC Sydney after background check is initiated and AOR is issued by CIO (Centralised Intake Office) Sydney, NS. The remaining applications are transferred to DN after file creation at Sydney, NS.
In the spreadsheet we only track the location of the applicant. We don't have a column to track the processing office because it is usually not disclosed to the applicant unless you call and ask or you infer it from the test invite e-mail. It is highly likely that your local IRCC office processes your file given the distribution above but it is not guaranteed. Your file may also be moved to any other office for load balancing