As noted, some other comments referencing PRs and their capacity to travel internationally demand addressing.
Additional Observations Regarding PRs and International Travel:
And to the extent there may be *issues* lurking in a particular PR's situation, those tend to loom larger and potentially be more problematic if the PR is abroad without a PR card and applying for a PR TD.
After all, a PR who is outside Canada and who does not present a status document indicating permanent resident status is PRESUMED not to have permanent resident status. This is prescribed by Section 31 (2) (b) IRPA (should link).
Which brings up an all too common refrain about how Canada unjustly traps PRs in Canada.
It is easy to emphatically caution to be very wary of posts like this one:
In contrast, if @canuck's posts might be seen as suggesting the procedure for obtaining a PR Travel Document is fast and easy enough you should forget your preference to wait for a PR card . . . ("so that I can go and come back without any hurdle. I don’t want apply for PRTD from my home country to come back in case I don’t have PR card") . . . I would likewise caution it is indeed prudent to approach this issue (as it appears you are) with care, duly considering your personal situation, the country you will be traveling to, the timeline of your trip, and other circumstances which should be taken into consideration by a PR prior to going abroad without a PR card. Once a PR exits Canada (and Canada does NOT, not in any way, restrict PRs from leaving Canada), the PR is relying on whatever passport the PR is carrying, NOT on Canadian law, not on the Canadian government.
I do not know, and will not bother to judge, if @CaBeaver is simply ill-informed, or is blatantly careless, or is intentionally deceptive and disruptive. Setting aside the absurdity of the hyperbole itself, the underlying sentiment is commonly, perhaps frequently expressed here. It depends on a big misunderstanding (sometimes deliberately so) about how Canadian PR status relates to the PR's international mobility.
There is NO basis, none, for PRs to rely on the Canadian government in regards to international travel. This is one of the few, very specific differences between Canadians who are citizens versus Canadians who are PRs. It is reflected in the mobility rights protected by the Charter: Section 6 protects the rights of citizens to travel internationally and ONLY citizens. NOT PRs.
When PRs travel outside Canada they are relying on the passport they carry, not Canadian law, not the Canadian government. To the extent a PR might be "trapped" in a country, that is about the PR's nationality, about the country whose passport the PR has.
Some may want to argue about whether this is how it should be. But IRCC is utterly powerless to change this. And even Parliament cannot change this in the course of its standard legislative process.
There is no cause for any PR to expect otherwise. There is no hint, for example, that having PR status changes the PR's international mobility options in anyway other than the fact the PR has authorization to enter Canada, and so can board a flight coming to Canada as long as the PR presents proper documentation (valid PR card or a PR Travel Document . . . very similar, actually, to what Canadian citizens must show to board a flight to Canada, as they likewise must present a valid Canadian passport or a special Travel Document).
This is not to say that the Canadian government totally abandons PRs once they are outside Canada. But to the extent the Canadian government assists PRs abroad, those measures and efforts are largely discretionary. Sometimes this involves programs to repatriate, to Canada, PRs abroad when there are certain emergency situations. And despite the presumption that a PR abroad without a status card (without a PR card) does not have valid PR status, visa offices have a mandate to issue PR TDs to PRs abroad who establish their status (which requires sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption they do not have valid PR status).
But it is to say, with some emphasis, that the capacity of a PR to travel internationally is NOT governed by Canadian law or the Canadian government but, rather, depends on the PR's home country.
Additional Observations Regarding PRs and International Travel:
As previously noted, your apprehensions about relying on obtaining a PR Travel Document while abroad make sense. How easy and especially how quickly a PR can obtain a PR Travel Document while abroad can vary a great deal depending on many factors, including some outside the PR's control, like which visa office will be processing the application (when it comes to which visa offices tend to be more problematic, the usual suspects tend to be fairly predictable).
And to the extent there may be *issues* lurking in a particular PR's situation, those tend to loom larger and potentially be more problematic if the PR is abroad without a PR card and applying for a PR TD.
After all, a PR who is outside Canada and who does not present a status document indicating permanent resident status is PRESUMED not to have permanent resident status. This is prescribed by Section 31 (2) (b) IRPA (should link).
Which brings up an all too common refrain about how Canada unjustly traps PRs in Canada.
It is easy to emphatically caution to be very wary of posts like this one:
At the very least the ridiculous hyperbole of nonsense like "IRCC treats us like prisoners and fugitives these days, and we have to comply to their almighty power over our movements" tends to be a clue, a clue about the size of a billboard with flashing lights.
In contrast, if @canuck's posts might be seen as suggesting the procedure for obtaining a PR Travel Document is fast and easy enough you should forget your preference to wait for a PR card . . . ("so that I can go and come back without any hurdle. I don’t want apply for PRTD from my home country to come back in case I don’t have PR card") . . . I would likewise caution it is indeed prudent to approach this issue (as it appears you are) with care, duly considering your personal situation, the country you will be traveling to, the timeline of your trip, and other circumstances which should be taken into consideration by a PR prior to going abroad without a PR card. Once a PR exits Canada (and Canada does NOT, not in any way, restrict PRs from leaving Canada), the PR is relying on whatever passport the PR is carrying, NOT on Canadian law, not on the Canadian government.
I do not know, and will not bother to judge, if @CaBeaver is simply ill-informed, or is blatantly careless, or is intentionally deceptive and disruptive. Setting aside the absurdity of the hyperbole itself, the underlying sentiment is commonly, perhaps frequently expressed here. It depends on a big misunderstanding (sometimes deliberately so) about how Canadian PR status relates to the PR's international mobility.
There is NO basis, none, for PRs to rely on the Canadian government in regards to international travel. This is one of the few, very specific differences between Canadians who are citizens versus Canadians who are PRs. It is reflected in the mobility rights protected by the Charter: Section 6 protects the rights of citizens to travel internationally and ONLY citizens. NOT PRs.
When PRs travel outside Canada they are relying on the passport they carry, not Canadian law, not the Canadian government. To the extent a PR might be "trapped" in a country, that is about the PR's nationality, about the country whose passport the PR has.
Some may want to argue about whether this is how it should be. But IRCC is utterly powerless to change this. And even Parliament cannot change this in the course of its standard legislative process.
There is no cause for any PR to expect otherwise. There is no hint, for example, that having PR status changes the PR's international mobility options in anyway other than the fact the PR has authorization to enter Canada, and so can board a flight coming to Canada as long as the PR presents proper documentation (valid PR card or a PR Travel Document . . . very similar, actually, to what Canadian citizens must show to board a flight to Canada, as they likewise must present a valid Canadian passport or a special Travel Document).
This is not to say that the Canadian government totally abandons PRs once they are outside Canada. But to the extent the Canadian government assists PRs abroad, those measures and efforts are largely discretionary. Sometimes this involves programs to repatriate, to Canada, PRs abroad when there are certain emergency situations. And despite the presumption that a PR abroad without a status card (without a PR card) does not have valid PR status, visa offices have a mandate to issue PR TDs to PRs abroad who establish their status (which requires sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption they do not have valid PR status).
But it is to say, with some emphasis, that the capacity of a PR to travel internationally is NOT governed by Canadian law or the Canadian government but, rather, depends on the PR's home country.