Because those two offices handle the largest number of applications. Specifically:
CIO Sydney accepts ALL applications (it is THE Intake office) in the following categories:
- FSW
- FST
- CEC
- PNP
- Start-Up Visa
- Quebec Investors or Entrepreneurs
- QSW
- Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Class
- Federal Self-Employed Persons and Quebec Selected Self-Employed Persons
CPC Sydney processes:
- applications for permanent resident cards (new and renewals)
- citizenship applications (new, renouncing, revoking and resuming)
CPC Ottawa processes:
- visitor visa (temporary resident visa) applications from within Canada for applicants with valid status (students or temporary foreign workers only).
- permanent resident visa applications from the United States and Canada, after they have been received and deemed complete by CPC Mississauga or CIO Sydney.
The
OSC Ottawa processes the following applications:
- International Experience Canada work permits
- In-Canada temporary resident applications submitted online
- Verification of Status (VOS)
- Replacement of valid temporary resident documents
- Amendment of immigration documents and of valid temporary resident documents
The vast majority of applications for any sort of Canadian status, especially PR, flow through Sydney first, then mostly to Ottawa.