As you are most likely aware, Canada has more restrictions that the US when it comes to mass email, and their anti-spam legislation applies both if you’re in Canada or send to Canadian residents. It first went into effect July 1st, 2014, with a transitional period of 36 months, scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2017.
The good news is that the Canadian Government has suspended the implementation of the provisions that would have allowed lawsuits to be filed against individuals and organizations for alleged violations of the legislation.
The Canadian Government decided to review the legislation in response to the broad-based concerns raised by businesses, charitable organizations and the not-for-profit sector in general.
This is certainly good news for businesses.
Under these previsions, there would be serious consequences for spammers, including fines of$1-10M per violation. Both individuals and companies, including directors, officers, and other agents, would be responsible and liable for the emails they send.
Basically, the law required that all email subscribers from Canada must only be added to a subscriber list via double opt-in. This is a good practice in itself, except the added extra step, causes many to not complete the process, and therefore never be added to the list.
This has a negative impact when you are trying to build an email list. It is a fact that a good number of people don’t confirm their subscription, for one reason or another. By the same token, it is safe to say that if someone signs up to your list it’s already giving you permission to send them emails.
If you are in Canada or have subscribers from Canada in your mailing list, you don’t need to do anything at this point but it is a good idea to stay tuned for new developments.
We included this link for full information and details about The Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL). Check back from time to time to stay on top of things.
Check the status from time to time to stay on top of things.
