The application is recorded on your file as complete as soon as you have landed. (Your status will change to application complete.) One of the reasons you get your PR card after you land. That’s when you’re officially in the system and can apply for a SIN number, health card, etc and your point of entry is written right on the card itself)
So in other words you have to land in Canada first to be able to sponsor.
This is true for an outland applicant who hasn't traveled to Canada. It wasn't clear from the original post if the person who posted is in Canada or not though. I believe this would be documented as a copr that has been stamped - previously at a point of entry or an IRCC office.
And right now it seems that since soft landing (crossing the border to the USA and returning right away) is not allowed and ircc is not doing the in person 'landings" at their offices, they've been doing' virtual landings' - sending the PR card directly after sending the COPR.
So I'm going to say more information needed - the original poster needs to find out whether the landing process has been done. If still abroad, the answer is no, if in country, would likely want to confirm with ircc.
(Note, part of the problem here also is that some of these changes like 'virtual landings' occurred at some point since the start of covid and haven't been very well documented, so I don't know how the OP would know what the situation is unless the COPR + letter stated clearly what the situation is, and we don't seem to have got enough information in this post to know either)