I have been following this forum for quite some time. I am a CEC inland applicant from Ottawa. I'd applied on Nov 10 2018, and after the medical passed update (Dec 12, 2018), I didn't have anything. My GCMS notes from April showed that my file hadn't been touched since Jan, and eligibility and security checks hadn't started. A lot of my friends who applied after me (as late as March 2019) got their PR confirmation. I kept waiting thinking it is just my luck that my file wasn't being worked on.
Eventually I got annoyed with this process and sought out my local MP and asked for help on my case (after 8+ months since.AOR). The MP's office asked me for a letter stating WHY I wanted faster processing - as if waiting an additional 2 months already wasn't enough. I wrote a letter in which I claimed I wanted to pursue a master's degree, but was waiting for my PR so as to not pay crazy high international fees. A week after I submitted this to the MP, I received a reply from their office with a screenshot of a reply from IRCC stating they would provide an update on my case within 10 business days. Yesterday, I received an email from the Ottawa CIC office asking me to come in for an interview on Aug 19.
I called in today to provide some info to them and also asked the agent to look into my file and tell me when the activity happened - the agent said nothing had happened since Jan until late July. This suggests to me that they literally just didn't bother looking at my file, and still wouldn't have unless prompted by the MP's office.
I would advise everyone to seek out their local MP (if possible, else maybe Ralph?) to ask IRCC to expedite the process, and not just ask for a status update.
PS: I only created an account to provide some (hopefully helpful) advice and say what happened in my case.