On July 1^st, there will be a new Canadian law coming into effect that could impact anyone doing business with Canadian clients. The rumor is that these new laws are quite strict, are meant to cut down on unwanted text or emails and will enforce an “opt-in” standard as opposed to the US’s “opt-out” method.

Some of the Differences: The new CASL law defines two types of consent: implied and express. Implied consent is a looser interpretation, whereas express consent requires action from both sender and recipient. Under CASL, consent is required before sending a CEM (commercial electronic message) and it applies to everyone including businesses, organizations, non-profits and even private parties. Basically the new laws apply to anyone who sends electronic messages for commercial or business purposes.

“CASL defines a CEM as a message that encourages participation in a commercial activity. This includes advertisements and information about promotions, offers, business opportunities, events, etc.” The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

If this all sounds huge and scary, don’t panic. There’s a 36 month transition period after the new law goes into effect July 1. 2014 for list owners to get educated and ensure their list stays in compliance under the law. I would highly recommend reading this CASL Survival Guide that is supplied by Elite Mail or better yet this information from FightSpam Canada.

Other Sources

http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/about-the-canada-anti-spam-law-casl/#consent

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com500/faq500.htm

http://www.chamber.ca/resources/casl/