Ditto.
AND . . . . use current forms to do drafts only. Be sure to use the forms which are current on the day you submit the application. Be sure to follow the checklist and instructions current as of the day you submit the application. Be sure the presence calculation you use is current as of the day you submit the application.
Forms have changed twice already in the last three months. Forms, instructions, and presence calculator will for sure change when some provisions in Bill C-6 come into force later this year, in "one or two months" according to the current Minister, so possibly by sometime in October (even though my guess is a November date). They can change anytime with virtually no notice.
A little extra effort upfront can save an applicant a lot of extra effort later, not to mention processing time and getting to the oath ceremony sooner.
Reaching the threshold for being eligible brings up an important caution: be sure to have a comfortable margin over the minimum. The minimum is an absolute minimum, so any mistakes which could deduct days can totally sabotage the application if the applicant does not have a margin to cover those. More than that, however, this also applies if IRCC perceives any reason to doubt some days, which could reduce the presence calculation below the eligibility threshold and result in the application being denied.
And beyond that, no advanced degrees in analytical logic are necessary to recognize that a comfortable margin over the minimum is more likely to allow a processing agent to be more comfortable concluding the minimum requirement was met. No point in applying a month sooner only to have the application diverted into non-routine processing, and potentially lengthy delays as a result, because a processing agent was not comfortable approving the application without further verifying the applicant's presence in Canada.
Which alludes to an overriding caution: get the dates of exit and entry right. Declare ALL dates of exit, ALL dates of entry, and do so accurately. Do not make mistakes like listing a date of exit from Canada based on an entry stamp to another country, unless you are CERTAIN that was indeed the date of exit (lots of other country entry stamps are a day later than the date of exit, and for Trans-Pacific flights can be two days later). Any omissions can be particularly problematic. Get them all, and get them accurately.
