I cannot say for certain that this will work, esp as service level sometimes different by region, but an acquaintance recently got one through the government online service portal ("gosuslugi"), and it was all processed online including the final copy. It was even fast. And from personal experience, Canada is fine with the electronic printed versions (with translation and all that of course).
That said, I would pursue both avenues - ask Canada to waive the request, but also see if you can get the PCC just in case.
Barring that I know that there are ways to get it from abroad (by requesting others to get it for you) - I just don't know details of how that works.
Thanks - apparently this is indeed a new option (to get an online copy). We may try and provide both the online copy and a letter of explanation at the same time if that's possible.