Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation ("CASL") was passed
by Parliament on December 15, 2010,. Viewed as one of the
world's toughest anti-spam laws, it was originally planned to
come into force in 2011 and 2012. However, it was not until
December 4, 2013 that the fi nal Industry Canada regulations (the
"Regulations") that are to govern the enforcement of the
CASL were released following a lengthy process of stakeholder
consultation.
As a result of the Regulations, CASL will come into force on
July 1, 2014. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission ("CRTC") will then have the power to enforce a
maximum available penalty of $10M for an offence committed by an
organization. The provisions relating to installation of computer
programs and private cause of action set out in CASL will not come
into force until January 15, 2015 and July 1, 2017
respectively.
