I landed August 29-2014, I got my card Dec 9-2014 (two days before my departure). It was such an emotional roller-coaster. The reason it took them so long was because the CBSA officer who did my landing by mistake gave me back both copies of my CO-PR. I realized this shortly, went back to the border (BWB) gave them the form and they said they were going to send it to Sydney. But as I learned, once card printing deviates from its norms, you ought to expect long delays. The best part is that no one really has any information and no one takes any responsibility. There are simply no notes whatsoever anywhere to tell you why this was delayed, where the files and whether it's being processed or not. Anyway, I got to experience the incompetencies of CBSA and CIC first hand.
Now when they were trying to "help" me resolve my situation, they specially mentioned that it's perfectly ok for me to travel to Canada with my old student visa (provided it's not expired). Here's the reasoning: you cannot be denied your right as PR to enter Canada, so long as you present yourself to a port of entry and provide ample documentation supporting your residency status in Canada (read: CO-PR). The visa is to just placate the airlines if you flying in.