The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is one of the most aggressive legislations of its kind in the world. Officially announced over three years ago, CASL is finally coming into effect this July 1st, which means you have just a few weeks left to get ready.

What is it?

In 2004, the Government of Canada started working with stakeholders, who have an interest in responsible electronic messaging, to create a comprehensive law that will reduce the amount of unsolicited emails that land in our inboxes each morning.

After conducting rounds of research this group was able to prove that Canadians were (and still are) being bombarded each day by unwanted messages, most of them coming from commercial enterprises and are generally unsolicited.

What this means for marketers, or anyone who sends commercial electronic messages, is that you will no longer have unrestricted implied consent to anyone you want, with the interest of gaining their business. This legislation will apply to all messages sent from, and even accessed by, a computer in Canada.

And, CASL applies to any medium. If you’re an individual or small business owner who relies on email, social channels like Twitter or Facebook, and even text messages to mobile phones, to solicit new business, your messages will be up for review by the CRTC, and other government agencies. If found to be in violation, you could face a fine as high as $1M as an individual, or $10M as a small business.

This legislation isn’t being put in place to hurt or discourage Canadian businesses. Quite the opposite in fact. The goal of this new legislation is to protect Canadians and ensure that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

Why does it matter?

Because email is about to change for good. CASL is going to affect everything we do via email — from sales and marketing, to your entire digital footprint.

What can I do about it?

So, the question you should now all be asking is: how can I get ready?

It’s quite simple. When you’re contacting anyone, ask yourself these three questions:

  • Do I have consent, either implied or explicit, to be contacting this person? If you’re currently in business with this person, or have done business with them in the past two years, then you’re okay; you have implied consent. If you haven’t, then you must contact this person (by phone or in person) and get their consent.
  • Have I clearly identified who I am, or who I’m writing on behalf of?
  • Is there an unsubscribe mechanism, so there is a way for this person to stop receiving the messages?

If your message and its content covers these three bases, then you are good to go. Because for CASL, it’s all about the message, not the man.

This legislation might seem harsh now, but this is actually just the first (and least severe) of many phases that will be rolled out over the next three years. On January 15, 2015, sections of the act relating to the unsolicited installation of computer programs and software will come into effect. And, July 1st, 2017 we will see a private right of action come into effect that allows individuals to start taking legal action on their own behalf against anyone not following the rules.

So, as you can see, this is definitely not a topic you want to ignore, especially if you’re in the field of digital marketing, or are someone who relies heavily on email and social to establish contacts.

There’s a lot of information out there about CASL, but we’ve gathered the most important links for you, including the legislation itself, and added them below.

But, there’s lots more to talk about. Email me at Andrew.Milne@bv02.com, or give me a call  at 613-231-2802 x 351, if you want to talk more about this interesting and important topic.

We look forward to your comments and input on this topic, one we will definitely be revisiting over the next few months.

Survival Guide:

Important Links:

 

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One response to “CASL: Is This What’s Going to Save Email Marketing?”

  1. Dan says:
    May 1, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    Really interested to see where all the money will come from for the manual “policing” of this type of data – with Government cuts on all fronts, I wonder what the spam battle will look like by the time the 3rd chunk of legislation is passed/introduced. Will the bots win?