Compliance With CAN-SPAM Does Not Equal Compliance With CASL

We are approximately a month away from the effective date of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), July 1, 2014.  CASL is widely considered to be among the toughest anti-spam legislation in the world and will have significant implications for businesses.  All commercial electronic messages sent (i) by any person within Canada, or (ii) by any person outside of Canada to a person within Canada are captured by CASL, meaning it applies to international senders who send commercial electronic messages to Canada.  Those who violate CASL could face significant fines and potential civil action.

We have received many questions related to the differences between CASL in Canada and the CAN-SPAM Act (CAN-SPAM) in the U.S. It is important to note that CASL is in many ways more onerous than its U.S. counterpart and it is important for businesses to understand that compliance with CAN-SPAM will not by default mean that they are in compliance with CASL in Canada.