OK thanks for the info - in that case I think my wife and I should start the Outland spousal sponsorship to Canada as soon as possible. It is what it is when it comes to estimated times, we really can't tell until we get to that road. Again, not entirely sure how or where the interviews will take place, but maybe IRCC will be able to give solid feedback when the time comes. Hopefully it can all be worked out without drastic measures.
A few questions to help recap: does Canada allow the one being sponsored to apply for sponsorship at two countries at the same time? As mentioned earlier, she has family in France that can sponsor her to become a citizen of France, and having both a Canadian and French passport would also be a bit better for travel. However, we do plan on living in Canada for a long duration of time but when traveling to Europe a French passport would be more open to the EU. I'm not sure if Canada allows for two country sponsorships to happen simultaneously or be entirely against that idea?
Can my wife actually work in Canada when I am sponsoring her for 3 years? And if not right away after landing in August 2020, when?
You really need to take a bit of a step back and look through the information on the website. You need to read the guide, checklist and forms. There is no "3 year sponsorship". You are mixing and confusing a lot of things.
Canada doesn't care if she is applying for France; she wouldn't even need to state that in the app.
2 ways to apply for spousal sponsorship:
Outland
- you can apply outland from anywhere in the world
- no option to apply for a work permit while the PR app is processing
- if an interview is required, it would be conducted at the outland visa office, which may be her home country or her current country of residence
- a TRV is not required unless she wants to visit Canada BEFORE the PR app is approved. As already said, there is little chance of TRV approval.
- once the app is approved, she gets a COPR and visa in her passport, comes to Canada and lands as a PR
Inland
- you are both required to be living in Canada, so she would require a TRV beforehand to actually come here
- when applying inland, the applicant can also apply for a work permit while waiting for PR
- if an interview is required, it would be in Canada
- when the app is approved, she will get an appointment to go to an IRCC office in Canada where she will get her COPR and land as a PR