[and in response to other posts above]:
For clarification: There should be no risk of losing PR status now.
Meeting the RO on the day an application is made for a new PR card, or to sponsor a spouse, is the best approach, the only for sure safe approach, and obviously a key factor in how things go. However, even though that is true, in the meantime the days IN Canada since the date of an application continue to count toward meeting the RO. So going forward there should be no danger that IRCC would engage in a formal RO compliance examination that could result in a 44(1) Inadmissibility Report and Removal Order. (Now that you have been in Canada more than 730 days within the preceding five years, as long as you do not leave Canada for long enough to no longer meet that, there is no risk of losing PR for a breach of the RO UNLESS IRCC challenged the number of days itself.)
There is a potentially significant difference, however, in the impact on the sponsorship application versus the PR card application.
Whether a PR is eligible for a new PR card, or not, on the date the PR card application is made, does not necessarily dictate the PR's eligibility for a PR card any day after that. As is your situation, where staying after applying for the PR card has allowed you to get into RO compliance (since days in Canada after applying continue to count), you now are eligible for a new PR card. (More obvious example is that a PR abroad is not eligible to apply for a new PR card, even if they have four years credit toward the RO; they need to apply when they are IN Canada to meet the eligibility requirements IRCC states in their instructions.)
In contrast, eligibility to sponsor a family member on the date of the sponsorship application is a requirement to sponsor. Being in breach of RO means the PR is inadmissible. An inadmissible PR is not eligible to sponsor a family member. There should be a lot more discussion related to this in the part of this site where family class PR applications are discussed. Last I looked (but I have not been looking much for a long while), the good news is that unless the breach of RO is blatant and big enough to trigger a formal RO compliance examination which results in a 44(1) Report and Removal Order, it appears many family class sponsorships are NOT derailed because the sponsor was somewhat short of complying with the RO as of the day the application was made.
In any event, the risk when applying for a new PR card when short of complying with the RO is twofold:
-- if the breach is substantial, the PR can be referred to a local office for a formal RO compliance interview/examination, and if still in breach on the day of that interview (or examination date if a live interview is not involved), a 44(1) Report prepared and a Removal Order issued, a decision that terminates PR status (subject to right of appeal), OR
-- the shortfall triggers non-routine processing and lengthy delays in getting in a new PR card;
-- -- this can include a referral for Secondary Review, which can delay how long IRCC takes to process the application by many months;, even a year or
-- -- it can mean just a little longer than routine processing following receipt of the application followed by a decision to issue a new PR card but require the PR to do an in-person pick-up of the card, which involves at least a "counter interview," which is the usual, but can involve a sit-down interview; during covid it appears in-person pick-up has been indefinitely postponed for many if not all, meaning a delay in getting a new card that is ongoing
So you have no worries about a RO interview/examination now. No worry that your PR status is at stake. But the impact on the sponsorship application remains pending and it is difficult to forecast how long it might be before you physically have a new PR card.
