That's usually a good sign. You should hear some good news soon.My wife (applicant) received an e-mail from NXF saying our application is in queue to be reviewed by the immigration officer. But the application status on the cic website shows that the background check has not started. So it sounds like the e-mail is generic in nature and the application might still take a long time. I want to get my hopes up, but i don't think anything has progressed.
-October 2017 Application
I am an october applicant too. How long after emailing them did you get a response? Its been 12 weeks since i sent them an email.