Thanks for the reply guys. There is one slight hitch in the inland plan however: we want to return to Canada at the same time to start settling down. But my partner needs a TRV (temporary resident visa) to do so. So we were thinking, apply for the TRV first, then wait, then go to Canada, settle and apply inland.
But I heard that if the TRV is refused, it will cause more problems to sponsor her. Given this, would it be a better plan to apply outland?
I know we have the option of my going to Canada BEFORE her, setting up shop, but ideally, due to conditions in our current country of residence, that would be very far from ideal. So we really want to stay together, if possible.
Since you seemed so certain in your plans, we were all basically assuming that your spouse already either had TRV or from visa waiver country. (And you didn't mention despite the relevance)
It's basically not true that getting a TRV refusal will cause problems to sponsor her. It probably is true, in many cases, that a TRV refusal increases likelihood of future TRV refusals.
What options work for you will basically depend on whether the TRV is approved. We can't really guess how likely that is.
So you have options: you can apply for a TRV now, and if she gets TRV, apply inland. If she doesn't wnat to apply before or gets refused, apply outland and then apply for TRV after getting AOR. (Chances of TRV should still be decent here b/c of the family sponsorship app.)
If she doesn't get the TRV after the spousal sponsorship is in the hopper, she'll have to wait until the PR is approved.
In the outland application cases, you'll have to provide the intent-to-return stuff. It should be a good and complete set if you're not willing to return to Canada without her.
We've seen a fair number of cases of those who got PFL (procedural fairness letter) to provide more info on intent to return, and refusals after. (PFL is a warning that they intend to deny unless convinced). At that point if it should happen, it may be better to return to Canada ASAP and update info / change of address "Here's the info oh and I returned to Canada yesterday".
No-one can really say how best to proceed. If it were me I'd apply for the TRV and prepare the spousal application, and if the TRV isn't approved in, say, a couple of months (with or without actual refusal), submit as outland. (My impression is that most 'easy' TRV cases are approved in a month or two, and after that - can be quite indeterminate.)