One of my friend asked CIC, this is their response. I would say CIC should have put an announcement on their website so ppl will know they should have contacted CIC before sending passport:
Good day,
Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. As discussed, you will find below complementary information to our conversation:
"Case Processing Centre : Ottawa, Ontario (passport not sent)
In order to finalize your application, the Case Processing Centre in Ottawa, Ontario (CPC-O) is asking you to send your original passport in order to issue your visa.
Please note that at this time, it may take them more than 4 weeks to return your passport back to you. If you were planning on leaving Canada in less than 4 weeks, we invite you to contact the CPC-O before
sending your passport using their email address available on
our website and include:
- Your full name,
- Your file number,
- Your date of birth,
- Your Unique Client Identifier (UCI),
- The date you were planning to leave Canada, and
- The reason why you cannot wait for 4 weeks.
They will gladly respond to you as soon as possible in order to attempt to accommodate you without affecting your travel plans."