Your comment made me go the CIC website and find how they calculate processing times. And I found this: "We calculate processing times from the day we receive an application to the day it makes a decision on the application". So it made me feel better that the time between application sent and AOR issued is actually counted within 12 months and not on top of that (I thought it was not as they only start processing after AOR).July Aug is the school holidays and peak vacation period, I assume most of the processing officers are on holidays and it would take a much longer time to process the application in the summer. They also mention that it takes 12 months to process so they can do it as slow as they can. In January I know someone got citizenship in 4 weeks from start to finish, now it takes 45 days to receive just the AOR
On the other hand, the time between decision made and oath taken appears not to be counted within 12 months based on the above - and is on top of 12 months...