Welcome to the thread, Lissom!.
I also applied inland and never received a letter acknowledging the receipt of my application.. I didn't really pay attention to the time back there as our daughter was born a month later and that kept my mind distracted for sure but about 3 months later, I was able to access e-cas...
They start processing the applications once they receive them about a month and a half later, this is what mine says on e-cas:
We received your application for permanent residence on October 5, 2009.
We started processing your application on November 17, 2009.
e-cas web address:
https://services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/?app=ecas&lang=en
phone number: is listed on the application's Sponsorship Guide, look it up there.
Hope this helps, best of luck with your application!.