Well, they should have indicated what the next step was going to be when you reopened your file, but I know sometimes they can be less than specific if you don‘t ask a lot of questions.
They will probably be in contact with you to schedual you for any testing they may require of you, but if you want to speed things up, the best thing to do is to call and ask if you can be schedualed for your stuff ASAP.
You will need your interview and fitness testing done AT LEAST, and you will likely need to update your medical and possibly even the CFAT if your file has been closed for a year.
So knowing that your trade of choice is open now, there‘s no better time to call in and find out whats going on.
If you‘re unsure what to say, just say something like "I‘ve reopened my file, but I haven‘t heard anything back and I was wondering if I needed to be schedualed for any testing or an interview?"
If you do require testing, they will probably not say "you‘re just going to have to wait until we call" or anything like that, they will almost certainly schedual you for whatever you need while they have your file open in front of them, and you on the phone.
At worst, they may give you some reason why there seems to be a delay, but then at least you‘ll know what the reason is and won‘t be sitting around wondering about it.
The merit list is basically where candidates are selected from. You get placed on the list after all your testing/interview is completed, and the file is reviewed in Borden. You are assigned a merit score based on all the information they have about you, and they select from the top of the list down for each trade.
At least for Regular Force, that was the general rundown I was given, Reserves may be a little different (if you‘re Reserves, I dont know).