Report the immigration lawyer if they gave you that advice. You can’t live in Quebec and qualify for spousal sponsorship other than in Quebec. You are correct that it is closed at the moment but you need to try to apply when open again.
You no longer qualify for inland spousal sponsorship and must apply for Quebec spousal sponsorship. If you land under the current application that would be misrepresentation. Is your spouse In Quebec with you?
What government say they will do and what they actually can do based on the law or what they do is often very different. If you are considering anyone who has AOR for H&C to be in progress then that doesn’t fix the total non-functional H&C program.
As soon as possible or before submitting their application is correct advice. When considering CEC they should already be looking for employment opportunities outside Quebec, identifying where they would like to move, etc. All these things take time.
If you don’t get eCOPR before she applies to you can’t claim points. Technically you shouldn’t have actually claimed the points if you weren’t eligible for them and if you only got selected because you had the extra points that could still be problematic.
There is no caregiver 2026 program it is closed because there is such a backlog. For any other NOC the person must be already have the relevant education or work experience before applying for a WP or a combination LMIA & WP.