this is my personal opinion after reading this post from a senior member that December applicants are included in the cap last updated by CIC. For example, NOC 1111 cap counted is 554 whereas it was 450 before last update. and additionally they have 377 pending applications in this NOC which mean if they are currently charging October applicants (554 cap count) and this cap is from May 2014 to October 2014 = 6 Months, and the pending applications (377 pending) are those applications they received till December 16, 2014. because if they get 554 applications till October then it is logical that 377 applications are from October to December 16, 2014. They also mentioned the modified date in the footer of CAP page.