A quick refresher on Canada’s anti-spam legislation and some easy tips to avoid running afoul of the law

May 28, 2016

Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) went into effect on July 14, 2014, in an effort to restrict the amount of unsolicited electronic messages being sent to recipients without their consent.


Given there is still some confusion and misinformation surrounding this legislation, we thought we’d provide a quick refresher on CASL, as well as some tips for avoiding the hefty fines that could be levied on those who are non-compliant.


First, the refresh of everything you need to know - we’ll make this as painless as possible.


Canada’s legislative bodies – including the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Competition Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner – introduced CASL in 2014 to reduce the volume of electronic messages being distributed, by prohibiting the:


  • sending of commercial electronic messages without the recipient's permission, including messages to email addresses and social networking accounts, as well as text messages sent to cellphones

  • alteration of transmission data in an electronic message that results in the message being delivered to a different destination without express consent

  • installation of computer programs without the express consent of the owner of the computer system

  • use of false or misleading online representation to promote products or services

  • collection of personal information through accessing a computer system

  • collection of electronic addresses by the use of computer programs or the use of such addresses, without permission (referred to as “address harvesting”)


CASL is being enforced by the CRTC, and the fines for breaking these rules can be – and, in some cases, have been – over $1 million.


Porter was recently fined $150,000 for not having an unsubscribe mechanism at the bottom of their email communications. Ouch, right?


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Three quick but important tips

Although CASL legislation is fairly easy to comply with – basically, you need to ensure you have written (or, in certain situations, implied) consent before sending any marketing- or sales-related electronic communications to your clients or prospects – there are a number of places an investment advisor may be impacted by (and non-compliant with) CASL that you should be aware of:


  • Maintain client consent records. You may one day have to prove you received consent from a client or prospect to avoid being fined, so be sure to file away those responses safely, and know where to access them if needed.

  • If you buy a list of contacts from another firm or advisor, be sure that the list you are buying is CASL-compliant. Just because another advisor has a great client list, that doesn’t mean everyone on that list has allowed the advisor to contact them electronically. It’s advisable – if not mandated – that you send out a request to that other advisor’s client/prospect list once it’s been purchased. That way you can ensure you have the approvals required to contact these individuals or organizations.  

  • When pursuing leads, ensure your communications are only to those individuals who have consented to being contacted by you. Whether it’s via email, social media or any other form of electronic communications, it’s a good idea to make your first course of action acquiring consent for any electronic contact. We have found that it’s always better to be safe than to be fined.


To learn about our CASL-compliant platform that sends the most engaging - and compliant content to your clients and prospects, schedule an AdvisorStream demo today.