But most applicants can work or study while waiting for the PR to come. Only people that were out of status when they applied are in a more precarious situation as they really cannot do anything until AIP.
But, you know, I do understand the feeling. When we applied, the processing time was 26 months and at that time, the processing time for AIP (which was also published by CIC at that time) was 16 months. Then the government announced that they would target to process 80% of new applications in 12 months (which they did) saying that about 20% of application are more complex to process and could take longer. Then people that applied few months after us started to land in 14-16 months. We reached 19 months with no news... Then suddenly, SA and AIP separated by few minutes, DM the next day. Landing was about 10 weeks later. My wife was on a study permit here, so she could keep studying during the process, but being in Quebec city and not speaking French... it's not easy. Until she got AIP, she was not eligible to get French class for immigrants, she was not eligible to get the RAMQ (Quebec health insurance plan),... So I do understand frustrations that come with those delay despite having what I considered a very straightforward application. But in the end, my wife was here with me for the whole process, she could have a quite normal life, this process was testing our patience, but again in the end, it was only a matter of time. And my best advice, don't waste your mood and energy on this process. Keep enjoying your everyday life, that's far more important.