There's not really much for you to do now until CIC makes a decision UNLESS you get a request for additional documents (ADR). Generally you will get this request if CIC needs clarification on something, or you forgot to include something they need (or something you submitted was inadequate).
But, often, some people don't get a request for additional documents at all, and you really don't hear anything else until you either get notice that your application was refused/cancelled OR your get the passport request email (PPR) which is when CIC has approved your application and is ready for you to start the process to get the necessary PR visa (if you're not from a visa exempt country) and/or COPR (confirmation of permanent residence letter).
Generally the next steps, conducted by CIC, after you submit your eAPR, are:
- review of your medical
- review of your eligibility (to see if you meet the requirements of the programme under which you applied (FSW, CEC, FST) and that you actually had the CRS Score needed when your ITA was issued)
- review of your criminality (review of your police clearance certificates)
- review of your security clearance (this is the most time-consuming stage where background checks are conducted on you)
- there is also possibly the security screening stage, which only some people are selected for and which REALLY appears to lengthen the review process (keep your fingers crossed that you don't get selected for security screening)
Once these steps are all complete, if an issue wasn't found with your application at any of the above stages, you will receive a request to submit your passport and photos/or whatever documents they need for your particular situation (PPR, also known as the Golden Email) and will know you have been approved for PR.
At that point, you will have a certain amount of time to get your passports/documents submitted for the PR visa stamp and/or COPR (or risk having the offer of PR withdrawn)
Once you get your passport and/or COPR back, you will then have a certain amount of time to 'land' (i.e. travel to Canada and go through immigration at an airport or at the US/Canada border to have the PR process finalized). The deadline for landing is usually the day your medical exam expires (one year from when you first had the exam) or the expiry date on your passport, whichever comes first. If you don't land by the deadline, you can't claim your offer for PR.
Regarding the various stages of your application processing, people use different abbreviations such as NA1, IP1, IP2, NA2, which tend to be mostly based on the change of statuses in your myCIC profile, but apparently you can't rely too heavily on these.
The best you can do is be patient, and check your email (AND SPAM FOLDERS) everyday to make sure you're not missing any requests for additional documents, or missing your PPR email, as every email and request CIC sends to you typically has a deadline attached to it.
The wait is the hardest part. But hopefully good news will come quickly. In the meantime, Best of Luck to you!