Your best bet for faster immigration is to be sponsored by an employer, or provincially sponsored immigration.. The skilled immigration program has long wait times, as you noticed.
If you check out the Canada immigration website -
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp - you can find out about provincially sponsored immigration programs. They are often based upon specific job needs, so they can be quite difficult, but you may get lucky. This program would require you to stay within a certain area for a period of time before you could move anywhere in Canada.
Like in other countries, sponsored employment can be difficult to find. This is especially true if you are not already living there, since it's harder to network, make contact, etc.
Even with the wait times, if you qualify, the best option may still be skilled migration. You get permanent residence immediately, and you have the ability to live anywhere in Canada. If you're willing to wait, get your application in now. You can always decide against it later when your name comes up. They've streamlined the application process from the UK, so you don't have to provide as much documentation up front. You will need to only provide it when your name has been selected.
Hope that helped.. Good luck!
