I have heard this also from a few friends regarding slowness.
1) IRCC has quota issues. So they will slow things during November/December and send approvals by January. This seems to happen every week.
2) PNP is moving faster because the PNP quota is different. Also, there are chances that eligibility is already verified during the PNP stage.
Again, these are just information I heard/read from multiple sources. I am not sure if these are true.
AOR 11th OCT PNP. BG in progress everything else completed. Closing in on 60 days. If PNP is faster I should be getting a PPR this month. But I doubt that will happen till Jan end at best.