Ontario really has not said they would be sending out NOIs right away. They suggest it could be happening when they mention NOIs issued after November 1, but normally when they do issue NOIs, they explicitly say that they are now issuing NOIs. So I think they haven't started issuing NOIs for the HCP stream but are just publishing the rules in case they do decide to start issuing NOIs this year.
They do have this update now:
November 3, 2017
Important: Please note, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program e-Filing Portal will be temporarily unavailable from Friday November 3, 2017 at 5pm EDT until Saturday November 4, 2017 at 2pm EDT as the system undergoes maintenance. Any clients whose application deadlines are affected by the system maintenance are asked to contact the program directly at
ontarionominee@ontario.ca.