I would like inform you all for the following incident happened for a PR holder and need your input on this.
one of my friend's cousin got PR card (with family) 1 year back. and the principal applicant stayed over in Canada and family came back along with PR card to Lebanon.
last month the family tried to move back to Canada and on airport immigration, they returned them back to Lebanon. and the cause they said that, as the family stayed more than 6 month continuous outside of Canada from their first landing , they cannot re-enter.
There is no six month continuous residency rule. Many people leave right after landing and easily return to Canada a few months - or even more than a year later.
Scylla is correct..there must be more to this incident as you are free to travel and come as you like to canada within the 5 year period if you meet the residency requirement with some exceptions ofcourse. In your friends case, PA's family was in Lebanon only for one year so there is no question of meeting the RO. They should have been allowed to enter Canada using their Valid passports and PR card.
However the following cases are possible -
1. They were refugee applicants - who received PR due to refugee status and problems in their own country. In this scenario, if a refugee PR returns to his/her own country, it takes away from the refugee claim - basically your refugee claim and PR status can be revoked. ( dont know if this actually happens)
2. There could have been problems with the immigration documents that the family carried.