I think you're mistaken. A 16-month program with 8 months of breaks is just a 2-year program, as breaks never count against you ("Regularly scheduled breaks (for example, scheduled winter and summer breaks) should be included in the time accumulated toward the length of the post-graduation work permit." - from the website I linked above).
We're specifically talking about the exception made for Masters and Doctorate programs. If they required 8 months of breaks they would just be considered 24-months programs, not 16.
This is what I heard in several presentations made by my school's immigration advisor, he even said to get a letter stating the program had no scheduled breaks. I was in a 24-month program, so it's not my case, but that's what he said.