Yes. The Canadian gov't sets a limit to the total number of immigrants approved for PR in each classification. In all likelihood, IRCC reached that limit for Spousal Outland applications in early December. Many applicants that would be considered "routine" had their background check start in late Nov/early Dec, and take up to 8 weeks. With the new year comes a new quota, so IRCC is actively processing PR apps again. My background check took slightly more than two weeks, and I received "Decision Made" on ECAS today.