Learn More About Canada’s New Anti-Spam Law

Canada's new Anti-Spam Legislation, known as CASL, is one of the strictest in the world. In general, CASL requires consent before sending "commercial electronic messages" and requires that all such messages meet certain form and content requirements. This seems simple, but as always, implementation can be complicated. This article explains the legislation and walks through some real-world scenarios to demonstrate compliance.

On July 1, 2014, a majority of the provisions of one of the strictest anti-spam laws in the world came into effect: Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)¹. CASL prohibits the sending of a commercial electronic message (CEM) to an electronic address unless the person to whom the message is sent has consented to receiving it and the message itself complies with prescribed form and content requirements. A CEM is defined broadly as an electronic message (e.g., email, text message, social media message) designed, in whole or in part, to encourage