Canada's New Anti-Spam Legislation And How It Will Affect Email Marketing Practices

Utilities, energy providers, trade associations and other entities participating in or supporting the energy sector will be impacted by Canada's new Anti-Spam Legislation (known as "CASL" for short). CASL affects anybody who sends commercial or promotional messages by electronic means, such as email and text message. CASL was enacted in 2010 but has yet to come into force. The CRTC, the agency responsible for overseeing CASL, has yet to set a date, but in recent meetings they indicate that CASL will come into force sometime in 2013. This means businesses and organizations need to act now to get their email marketing strategies ready for CASL.

Although CASL highlights "spam", the law is drafted so that it applies to a much broader array of messages than would normally be regarded as spam. CASL applies to any "commercial electronic message", meaning a message with a commercial purpose, regardless of whom it is sent to or how many messages are sent. Technically, a