I received an email from CX for stage 1A on 7Jan13 as well. You will know your 1A result on the same day or probably the next day. I think I will be leaving Toronto in the last week of Dec 2013 even though I'm still trying to book the tickets. For the waiting time between stage 1b-stage 2, my friend waited for 2 months after he finished stage 1b (it may vary!). I probably will fly back to Toronto and do some packing after ICAO english test + medical. Other than that, I will stay in HK for most of the time.
Looking forward to see you in HK!