A final step during the application for Canadian permanent resident status, submitting your passport to the visa office so it can be stamped, is no longer necessary for citizens from Visitor Visa exempt countries.
For these applicants, once they are approved, they will be mailed their landing documents.
However, anyone who requires a Visitor Visa will still have to submit their original passport to the visa office to have the PR visa stamped inside, which will be, in these cases, returned to the applicant with their landing documents.
CanadaVisa.com provides a list of countries that are currently except from requiring a Visitor Visa, and hence no longer require passport submission: Visitor Visa Exemptions.