There's a lot of truth in the above statements. I immigrated in 2003-04. Even though I qualified under the Skilled Worker Program and my wife and kids were all Canadian citizens by birth, it still took almost 24 months, great expense and STUPEFYINGLY incompetent officialdom until the process was finally completed: by which time every little clerk in Vegreville had recorded everything on his/her little piece of paper at least in triplicate, rolled up the piece of paper and shoved it up his/her a**! (Because they're all anally retentive.)
I now realise that I could have saved myself all that time, money and frustration just by walking across the border while on vacation in the States, whined on CBC about how I was being repressed by someone back home who was being beastly about me being disabled / lesbian / religious or how Mother Nature had inflicted a hurricane or earthquake on me and thereby infringed my human rights.
Of course, for the true 5* Immigration Canada experience, I should have just become a terrorist and qualified for the $10+ million award such folk now receive...
Play by the rules???
THAT!!!