This is a misunderstanding.
When I was applying for PR I was essentially using ATIP as the "status tracker" (yes the IRCC ATIP department clearly hates me now) but my application was never put on pause.
I believe Peter Julian (New Westminster - Burnaby, BC) had a staff saying things like that, but last I was told she no longer works there.
According to my MP, who directly spoke to IRCC (unlike us), it's not a misunderstanding at all.