No -- the conditions that you're going to be applying under require you to swear that you 'continue' to live in Canada. If you're not living in Canada, you can't continue. I'm no expert, but I don't think there's any way that you can apply, realistically, without being settled in Canada by the time your application is being processed; and under the new conditions the processing should be quick. In other words, I don't think you can apply from outside Canada and collect an admissions offer which you can use at the interview to establish intent. Or perhaps better, I don't think that doing that would have a high chance of success.
I think it's also likely that your application will have a higher degree of scrutiny, owing to the recent nature of your absence and new nature of the Intent to Reside clause, it seems unlikely that a simple college admission offer will surmount that. I'm sympathetic here -- I'm applying under the old rules with 345 days of absence, owing to having to go work in the US for almost a year (don't plan on getting a job in Victoria) -- but at least it was at the beginning of my time, and I've gotten settled since then. Who knows what they'll do?
I'm sure other people who know more will weigh in, here. Remember, no one has actually seen the new rules applied, yet.
