The Canadian Government and the Anti Spam Legislation (CASL)
Non-compliance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation could cost businesses $10 million. Now legislators are seeking a balance between communication and spam.
Canada is known by marketers to have some of the most comprehensive anti-spam laws in the world, making it challenging to safely navigate communication that is sent in connection with “commercial activity”. However, those regulations recently came under fire when the government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to relax some of the rules that currently allow Canadian citizens to sue organizations who send them communication that is classified as spam. While some individuals are lambasting the decision stating that it is a “major victory for the business lobby groups”, business owners and marketers appreciate the relief from what many perceive would have led to frivolous lawsuits.
Current Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation
Canada’s current anti-spam legislation, known as CASL, is quite vigorous and requires that all electronic communication receive full consent from individuals before the message is sent — and that applies to messages that originate within and outside Canada as well as those that travel within the country’s borders. CEM, or Commercial Electronic Messages, are any message that encourages individuals to take commercial activities such as utilizing a coupon or taking advantage of a sale. Organizations are required to receive express consent from individuals before the message is lawful, but consent can be challenging to obtain and retain. Canada’s laws consider that consent has been gained when you have documentation of the following, either orally or in writing (electronic copy is acceptable):
- Name of organization or individual
- Physical mailing address
- Contact information such as a voice messaging system, phone number, or email address
- Statement of identification from the individual
- Contact information and identity of any third-party affiliates
- Define any CEMs that you may be sending
- Outline whether CEMs are going via email, SMS text messaging or other direct digital communication methods
- Determine whether the level of consent is express or implied and that all the required contact information is being properly captured
- Post-compliance audit, define next steps to gather required information before additional CEMs are sent
- Ensure that any CEMs that would be subject to CASL rules contain the legally required information
- Determine impact of CASL on your customer relationship management software, marketing automation tools and other digital mechanisms for content dissemination
- Update procedures and policies to capture audit trail and all required information