In Canada you never have to leave to renew or change status; it's just sometimes faster to do so. It's always the applicant's choice. I went through the whole work permit to PR to citizenship pipeline without ever having to leave the country.

"Flagpoling" was the beautiful euphemism for this.

OP isn't criticizing the practise of leaving to renew. He's criticizing the this new policy of not letting you back in when you leave.

Really? My spouse and I lived in Canada on work permits and were not required to leave in order to achieve PR status; nor to achieve citizenship status.