no you can not apply for a work permit with an outland application.
how long outland takes depends on which visa office the application is at (the home country of the applicant). For most applicants it takes less than a year. some visa offices process applications in 3-6 months, some more like 8-10, and some longer. the times posted on the cic website are misleading and do not represent what current applicants face. to know what the trend is for your visa office, you will want to find the thread specific to that country's visa office. most have their own thread with spreadsheets that track applicant progress.