Anti-Spam Law To Come Into Force On July 1, 2014

On December 4, 2013, the Canadian government announced that most provisions of Canada's new anti-spam legislation (known as "CASL") will come into force on July 1, 2014. Certain sections of CASL relating to computer programs and software will come into force on January 15, 2015. The final regulations (the "Regulations") were also published. These Regulations are the result of a lengthy consultation process that the government had with businesses and other stakeholders.

Now that a date has been set for CASL to take effect, any person, business or organization that sends commercial electronic messages (such as email and text messages) ("CEMs") needs to take immediate action to make sure they comply. Keep in mind that although CASL refers to "spam", the law is drafted so that it applies to a much broader array of messages than would normally be regarded as spam. Technically, a single email sent to a person that has a commercial purpose falls under CASL. In