Timeline for citizenship is 5-6 years: 3 years of residency, after which you can apply for citizenship, which currently takes additional 2-3 years to get.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/cit-pr...

One key thing to note is that Canadian Citizenship Law does not require the applicant to be present physically on Canadian soil while the application is being processed, nor does it require "proof of intent to live in Canada" for award of Citizenship.

What this means is that in theory, someone could land as a PR one Day 1, file the application exactly 3 years and 1 day later, and then leave Canada and go sit in a hut in Guatemala while the application is being processed. [1] After it is ready for the test/oath in 2-3 years, applicant flies back, declares a desire to live and die in Guatemala, and still gets his Canadian citizenship, a shiny new Canadian passport, and leaves the country. And all this is 100% legal, at least as per Canadian Citizenship Law as of 2013.

[1] Unfortunately, C&IC will only correspond to Canadian addresses, so the applicant does need a reliable mailing address in Canada

Theoretically yes, but in practice, the current Harper administration is going hard against those PRs who leave Canada after applying for citizenship, using any possible way to deny them, even questioning and trying to reverse decisions made by Citizenship Judges.

Good discussion here: https://secure.immigration.ca/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8848... (see a post by dpenabill toward the end of the page), and the entire thread is good as well.

This is somewhat correct and quite possible. Keep in mind the reason that this is possible is because to maintain Canadian PR status the residency obligation is 2 physical years in Canada out of a 5 year period[1]. So if you are outside of Canada for 3 years, you'd have to come back for the final 2.

There is ambiguity about whether it's a rolling 5 years or whether it's 5 year cycles based on the date you first receive your PR status. To be safe, it's usually best to assume modulo 5 from the start of your PR status.

In the example above, if you filed the citizenship application 3 years and 1 day later, the maximum you can stay in your Guatemalan hut is just shy of 2 years, or else you risk losing PR status and jeopardizing your Canadian citizenship application.

[1] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp#keep_sta...

I'm not sure what benefit this gets them though, other than being able to travel on a Canadian passport and receive help from Canadian embassies when abroad. It's not as though one gets access to Canadian social programs when overseas.

Possible reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians_of_convenience

(Having no dog in this hunt as I'm not Canadian nor do I have any claim on Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, much as I'd like to.)

FWIW my Permanent Residency came in way faster than the time that was published at the time.

The estimate is based on "processing time from receipt of application to final decision for 80% of cases".

The rather excellent British Expats (not just for Brits!) forum users keep track of the various processing times of Canadian immigration applications.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=33

British Expats forums is a great resource for anyone trying to move within the English speaking world.

I got my PR in months but I've been waiting for citizenship now for 2.5 years

…that's disquieting and disturbing to read. I had not realized that the Harper government had been that bad to immigration and citizenship. (I assumed it was bad because it's Harper, but I didn't know it was that bad.)

I got my citizenship about ten years ago (I only know because I'm on my third passport), about six months after applying and taking the test. I had been resident for just under four years at the time.

The official average wait time is currently 25 months, from what I can find, if you are in the "routine" category (35 months if you aren't): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/cit-pr...

Through which category did you get your PR?