Yes, that's the valid point, as long as they don't process applications within the advertised 6-month timeline, AOR stops being a major factor. I used to think that the country of residence is and there has been some anecdotal evidence that US-based applications are being processed/finalized faster, but it didn't work for me.
P.S.
I am extremely pessimistic about Canada. I had to re-plan and re-think my life multiple times to this point, because the IRCC promise is just NOT coming true. Thankfully I am still in the US and sometimes I think I'm closer to a green card than to a PR, although the process hasn't even started for me yet.
P.P.S. What is your country of citizenship, if I might ask? I tend to think some citizenships are simply blacklisted by IRCC.