I succumbed and called IRCC again today. The agent told me that my application was approved on Dec 24th.
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
This time I remembered and asked about my visa office and it is Nova Scotia, Sydney. The agent said the reason why I have not received the email yet is because there is a lot of backlog and if I do not get an email by March 13th (6th month mark); call them again.
This is definitely some relief and we will assume March 13th for PPR and plan things ahead accordingly.
@Bandit Queen : I join your team!