Leon said:
Healthcare you can usually get after your first stage approval, maybe plus 3 months depending on the province you live in.
Leon as usual has an excellent post, and indeed inland times have improved dramatically of late (I have seen people from March 2012 who have landed
inland!) I suspect that CPC-V's goal is to have stage 1 inland be the same as stage 1 outland, and they are making great strides at getting there. But of course processing times are unique to each application.
On this one point (health care) I will note that this varies dramatically from province to province. The statement above is true for Ontario, but BC, AB, SK and PEI are all more generous than Ontario with respect to health benefits. Note that they may also vary from one another based upon the type of relationship you have. For example, AB will only consider common-law partners for health care if they have been in a relationship for
five years not one year like CIC requires.
In the provinces I listed, the law states that a
dependent living with a qualifying resident is eligible for health care benefits (again, there are variations from province to province). A spouse (or partner) is a dependent under these laws and thus the usual question is whether or not you are living together. I know both BC and SK will treat someone living in Canada with their spouse/partner as eligible if they have an in-process PR application. BC is very clear about what they expect and I recently had someone in SK (on an outland application) use this information to obtain coverage in SK: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/pdf/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf. BC's list clearly demonstrates the evidence they require to establish that a PR application has been submitted.
Thus, Ontario seems to be the most stingy when it comes to health care. If you aren't in ON, check your provincial health service website and you may find that you qualify, even though you don't have AIP and/or are not a PR yet.