IRCC has actually lowered CLB7's definition for TEF from advanced B2 to lower B2. This makes it relatively easy for a lot of folks to score CLB7 in french.
I know way too many who reached advanced B2 in 6-9 months. We've so many examples on this forum alone from 2022 when learning french wasn't even this popular, I get pings from 2-3 people each month on how I learned french, surprisingly these folks are already at B1/lower B2 and were trying to reach advanced B2. Indians, Chinese, Filipinos make a very competitive cohort imo and they live a relatively distraction free, goal oriented life. Even a small fraction of them is enough to consume the significant francophone quota. If we set lambdas aside, IRCC has opened up accessible CRS to ~3B people who previously never took significant interest before.