You are privellaged
This is the other issue I was going to address. This comment was directed at a principal applicant from Australia, and you have made quite a few remarks about applicants from visa exempt countries and their 'privileges,' including the ability to travel on an eta. You've also made many misinformed comments, some of which have been deleted by the moderators, which will ultimately make you lose credibility on the site. Just because the PA comes from the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and various other visa exempt countries, it does not automatically mean a speedy application and a golden ticket into Canada. There are many applications even from these countries that have taken more than twelve months for various reasons, including the inability to provide enough tangible evidence that the relationship is genuine. You don't seem to have an accurate idea of what an application processed in less than six months looks like. While nobody can say with 100% certainty why some applications are processed so quickly and others are not, by studying those that are we can gain some insight into the possibilities as to why.
Keep in mind, COVID 19 is our reality right now. It is highly unlikely that anybody, regardless of what country you are from, will have an application processed in three months. It's simply not going to happen right now. With regards to below, one or a couple of these things may not necessarily help speed up an application, but viewing them collectively as a whole, you can see how certain applications can make it through the system faster than others.
I am a Canadian citizen by birth and my husband (the PA) is a New Zealand citizen by birth. Our Outland application was received in Sydney on June 17, 2019 and our application was processed in 109 days. Our entire application was between 100 and 150 pages from front to back. These are points to consider:
1. Length of relationship: My husband and I were only married for three months at the time of our application, but we were together for 8 years before applying. As a result we had plenty of quality documentation clearly showing the evolution of our relationship over 8 years from meeting online, to in person, to living together, to married in that order. That included solid evidence of living together consecutively for two years at the same address, which was not even required for a married couple.
2. Visa Office: Some move faster than others. Simple as that. Pre-COVID Mississauga was considered the fastest for processing time. Our application was transferred to Mississauga for processing, and the final PPR stage done in Sydney, Australia. Again, we fell into the simple and straightforward application category, which this Visa office typically handles.
3. Request for additional documents: At no time were we ever asked for additional documentation or an interview. Anytime you are asked for additional information it's adding time to your clock. By the time you receive the notice they have to wait for you to get back to them with the info they required and then they have to revaluate. The more this happens, the more the clock keeps ticking.
4. Background/Security checks: This is always going to be faster from USA, Commonwealth, and visa exempt countries with close ties to Canada. It's much easier for them to verify and receive reliable information. My husband had only ever worked in New Zealand and Canada. Therefore he only required an NZ police check and a Canadian one that was done on his behalf. The more countries you live and work in, the more they have to go digging for reliable info. That's major time added to the clock.
5. Time spent in Canada: A lot of Outland applicants have either never been to Canada or came only as visitors. My husband was able to come on an IEC visa. As a result, he already had many things Canadian citizens and PRs have, including but not limited to a SIN number, NOA, Canadian bank accounts, etc. As a result, when it comes to background and security checks, the Canadian government already had a plethora of info on my husband before even having to look outside their own borders. (And at all times he behaved himself and abided by Canadian laws and the terms of his visa.) Time shaved off the clock.
5. Children & Dependants: We have no children or dependants. Right from the get-go that's less paperwork and less information IRCC had to verify. That's time off the clock.
6. Previous relationships: My husband and I are each other's only spouse or common law partner ever. Again, more paperwork that we could throw right to the garbage. The more relationships, the more they need to verify. That's time on the clock.
6. Visa Refusals: My husband and I have never been refused a visa or entry to another country or ever overstayed our welcome. While this does not prevent an applicant from receiving an eventual COPR, it's still more they have to verify and assess. Time on the clock. (My husband always left Canada as a visitor when he was supposed to and did not violate the terms of his IEC Visa at any point and went back to NZ four days before expiration. I accompanied him then to visit his family.)
7. Proof of relationship: We had solid, consistent, hard evidence. We did not supply more than what they asked for in the application. Quality and consistency over quantity. We did not at any point contradict ourselves in our application from front to back.
8. Biometrics and Medical: My husband had them done ASAP as soon as he received the notices. This is entirely in your control. The longer you wait the more time on the clock for them to process.
8. A little luck: We were pre-covid, PPR was processed the same day it arrived in Sydney, Australia, etc, etc. Pure luck.
If you consider all of these combined, it paints a clear picture as to how an application can be processed in three months. I stress 'processed in three months.' It took us 8 years to plan my husband's eventual sponsorship to Canada. Eight years to plan and put together a rock solid application, and our reward for 6 years of being over 13 000km apart was an application processed in 109 days.
So yes, it wasn't so quick after all.