What is CASL?
Canada's anti-spam law. You need consent before you send a sales email, with a few narrow exceptions.
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CASL — CASL is Canada's anti-spam law. It requires prior express or implied consent to send commercial electronic messages, and it is among the strictest in the world. Implied consent from a published business address is narrow and time-limited.
Why it matters
CASL covers commercial electronic messages sent to or from Canada. Unlike CAN-SPAM in the US, it starts from consent, not from an opt-out. You generally need express consent, which means the person said yes. Or you need implied consent, which is a much smaller set of cases. It can come from business you already do with them, or from a work address they made public, if your message relates to their job. Implied consent also runs out. A link that once counted can lapse.
So what does that mean for a sales team? You can't treat a Canadian contact like a US one just because your process is the same. Say you built a list for US cold email, and the only basis for each name is a public work address. That list doesn't clear the CASL bar in Canada. You have to check that an implied-consent case fits each person. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission enforces the law. Fines can reach millions of dollars per breach. That's a far bigger risk than a typical CAN-SPAM slip.
What CASL requires before sending
- 1
Check if the person is in scope
See whether the message and the person fall under Canadian law.
- 2
Find your basis for consent
Confirm the person said yes, or that a current implied-consent case fits.
- 3
Say who you are
Each message must name the sender clearly.
- 4
Add an unsubscribe link that works
The person must have a way to say no, and it must take effect fast.
- 5
Track when implied consent runs out
Implied consent has a time limit, so you need to check it again.
The mistake to watch for
Questions
- How is CASL different from CAN-SPAM?
- CAN-SPAM lets you send a first sales email without consent, as long as you offer an opt-out. CASL generally needs consent first, either express or a narrow implied kind. Its fines are also far higher.
- What counts as implied consent under CASL?
- Implied consent can come from business you already do with the person. It can also come from a work address they made public, if your message relates to their job. It's narrow, and it runs out over time.
- Does CASL apply to B2B outreach?
- Yes, CASL applies to B2B outreach as well as to sales email in general. If you send to Canadian contacts, check your basis for consent for each one. This is not legal advice.