I found this:-
As close culturally as Canada and the USA are, and as easy as it is for an American to adapt to Canadian life, it seems that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) wants your American spouse to wait in their home country – that would be the USA – until your sponsorship application is approved. A letter obtained by the Toronto Star from CIC Minister Chris Alexander states that “it is always in the client’s best interest to apply abroad.” [The article was removed from The Star's website as of December 2019.] So the choice between what is called an inland application – sponsoring a spouse or common-law partner who is already in Canada on a temporary visa – and an ‘overseas’ application – sponsoring a partner who remains in the USA with or without you – seems stacked towards the ‘overseas’ option.
Assuming your American partner has a job at home in the USA – sponsoring an unemployed foreign spouse has very little chance of success nowadays – and assuming they have some sort of health coverage in the USA, it only makes economic sense for them to apply from the US. This is because while your application is being processed, your spouse will not be eligible for health care benefits if he or she is living in Canada with you. Nor will they be able to work unless they are able to get a temporary work permit. That means you, the sponsor, will have to pay for their health coverage, and all their other expenses until your sponsorship application is approved in principle and then confirmed, and they obtain permanent residence status. For most working couples, that is a heavy financial burden that can eat up whatever savings they have, or land them with a second mortgage. But it does mean you are together and not separated from each other for the year or so – or even substantially longer – that the application process takes. The overseas option means your partner keeps his or her job and health coverage while you wait in Canada. Of course, if you are able to live and work in the USA while your sponsorship application is being processed, then this option is far more appealing. But the trade-off between love and work, and even health coverage, now applies to most Canadian-American couples seeking sponsorship.
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