I mean if that's the case then there should just be an autogenerated eCOPR once we declare our presence here. I mean if they have nothing else to do, right?I don't think it has anything to do with verifying presence in Canada. They just accept the declaration.
eCOPR issuance used to be quick in the summer, everyone got it in two weeks max, most within days. The reason for the slowdown is probably as they say: there's a high volume of files at the moment. They probably have thousands of eCOPRs to issue and they can only handle so much a day. Probably a lot of applications reach the approval stage at the same time towards the end of the year.
As for how the queue works and why some seemingly skip ahead, I have no idea.
Yea I noticed that as well. It used to be quick even for Montreal. But it's just weird that it's just happening in Montreal and Etibicoke (sort of). I know someone who had P1 and P2 in 1 day then got eCOPR the following day. They seem to not track. It's just sad and frustrating especially if they "seem" to be skipping queues.