I've read at internal blogs that the processing time for Open Work Permit from outside Canada would take 8-9 months to be able to get the 1st stage approval. That long? What if the spouse working as skilled in canada will only have a contract duration of 1 year? It says that the validity of the OPW is the same as the validity of the spouse's.

Does anyone know rough figures as to the processing time of OWP? Would it be best if to apply first a visit visa then when inside canada, apply for OWP?

What if the OWP application has been submitted, can I apply for visit visa (which will take very fast) even there is a pending application for OWP?

please help. thanks

The 8-9 months that you are referring to would seem applicable to candidates subject to an inland spousal sponsorship (i.e., permanent resident) application, which is inconsistent with your reference to the work permit of the principal applicant. Assuming that the spouse in Canada is a foreign worker and not a Canadian, then the duration of the open work permit process would follow normal processing delays for the visa office at which the case would be processed (and may include the possibility of port of entry processing in some cases).