so it appears sponsor travelling abroad for essential reasons like medical or even to be with spouse for relationships sake is a valid reason . We stayed out for 6 months . Left after a week of applying and returned a couple months after our COPR
CBSA does not care - not at all. IRCC call agents can give you their opinion on things like this, but are often wrong (and their opinion has no other value - you can't really complain later that 'the call agent told you so,' or at least not with any practical effect)
In your case: sure, you got by okay. But a) unless you specifically asked the IRCC call agent that you were going to be away for a long period of time, they could only respond in generalities; and b), see above - they are often wrong. There's no indication from the above that anyone at IRCC actually recorded or noted any 'reason' for you being outside of Canada (or indeed if they even noticed or checked that you were in Canada). Worth noting - from all the reports, I don't recall anyone being able to inform IRCC of a 'reason' for being away in any way that had an impact on their file. There could be some, just haven't heard of any.
As this thread has, I think, repeatedly stated: it's clearly 'allowed' to be outside Canada for 'short trips.' Beyond that, they can delay or refuse if they wish. It's impossible to tell how often they even check for sponsor being in Canada.
Rather like speeding tickets, some/many/most not get ticketed, but if/when you get caught, 'other people didn't get caught' is not a valid defense. In fact, there's not really a 'defense' at all, because in almost all cases, it will make more sense to simply re-apply than appeal.
What we're left with is: a lot of speeders don't get caught, but some do. Up to the applicant and spouse whether they wish to chance it.