I am not sure if there is such a policy of 6 months, it depends on VO. However they are determined to process faster than before: « Our goal is to reduce wait times for spouses and partners», «Processing times can vary, depending on how many applications IRCC receives. Your application may be delayed if it’s not complete.»
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/index.asp
Yes, the refugees program impacted our timeline as they had to deploy the officers from VO to process the refugees applications but as they are working hard to eliminate/reduce the backlog, the impact will be null at the end.