My wife had similar case where she stayed in a country for 4 months then came back to her country for 2 months and then went back for less than 6 months to complete her studies. When we finished application in the list of documents PCC for the country was asked. Hence, I'm telling from personal experience that in the case described by OP he will be asked for PCC.
rules were the same but the IRCC website also states that if you have multiple visits you can proactively upload PCC. In my case I had anticipated that PCC may be asked and hence already applied before submitting the application.
Ok in that spirit please also let people know that in case of multiple short visits IRCC itself suggests to have PCC ready to "avoid delays". I bet everyone would like to avoid delay and have PCC. A rule which has a caveat of potential delay ... a simple "No PCC needed" advice is not much use.
One quick question: Me and my wife are currently residing in USA. I got my PCC from local embassy, as stated in the IRCC website. However, my wife happend to visit India during the PR application process. Can she get a PCC from passport office in India. Is it Valid? As IRCC website indicated that the people residing outside India can get a PCC from local embassy. Is it mandatory to get PCC from embassy while you are residing outside India?
My wife had similar case where she stayed in a country for 4 months then came back to her country for 2 months and then went back for less than 6 months to complete her studies. When we finished application in the list of documents PCC for the country was asked. Hence, I'm telling from personal experience that in the case described by OP he will be asked for PCC.