@shandias yours is way faster than mine now! i have 5 inland dependents, 1 is a canadian citizen. i wonder if that's what's holding this up...
so i called up ircc again today. the agent i spoke with is really nice. apparently, i got the dm on the 23rd of april not the 29th as i initially thought.
she said that i already passed everything(like what the previous agents told me before) and it was approved--the very first time that an agent actually verbalizes a decision since the previous ones always say that they can't reveal that information. she said that there is no delay whatsoever, but i just need to wait for the final decision(?) in writing which the officer will complete once she's ready. the file was never transferred and it remains in NS.