Hi soap,
Is your application inland or outland? That might make a difference, but I am not an expert. I believe most people in this thread, myself included, have submitted outland applications. According to trackitt ( http://www.trackitt.com/canada-immigration-trackers/family-class ) and our personal stories in this thread, outland applications generally receive sponsorship approval after 30-40 days. At that point, they get a letter in the mail from CPC-M and people can log into ECAS. However, I'm noticing that for Inland applications (through Vegreville), people on trackitt take *much* longer before receiving sponsorship approval. Does that apply to you? Maybe more experienced members of the board can offer you more insight/advice.
In terms of logging on to ECAS with the receipt number, double check that you are using the correct number. If you paid online, the receipt number is 10 digits (1st digit is always a letter, I believe) and is found right above the bar code on CIC's official receipt. My guess is that you are probably using the right number though and that this is not the issue.
I can tell you with certainty what information I'm provided once I log onto ECAS. It lists my home address in Canada and then has a heading entitled "Sponsorship Applications". Under that title, there is a table that looks like the following:
Sponsored Person, Sponsorship Application Status, Permanent Residence Application Status
XXXXXXX, Decision Made, Not Available
I'm assuming the "Not Available" should probably change to "In Process" in a few weeks once the Visa Office in Taipei has received and starts to process the application. However, for now I can click on "Decision Made" and when doing so, the following information is displayed:
We received your application to sponsor XXXXXXX on August 6, 2009.
We started processing your application on September 1, 2009.
We sent you a letter on September 1, 2009 about the decision on your application. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.
That's it! Hopefully that is of some help to you.