From tomorrow, send commercial email only to people whose consent you can show, name your business with a mailing address in every message, and include an unsubscribe that works. Set aside any address whose history is unknown.

The law starts on Canada Day

Tomorrow, on Canada Day, Canada's anti-spam law comes into force. From then on, commercial email from a business needs consent, identification and a working unsubscribe.

Most small businesses send some: a newsletter, a seasonal offer, an invitation to a sale, a note to past customers about a new service. The law covers text messages too.

Inboxes have filled this month with requests to confirm subscriptions. There is still useful work a business can finish before tonight, and one decision that has to be made today.

What counts as commercial

A commercial message is one that encourages the reader to buy, try or take part in something commercial. Offers, promotions and most newsletters qualify, even when the selling is gentle.

Some messages need no consent because the customer asked for them, such as a quote or an order confirmation, though they still carry the identification and unsubscribe.

A direct reply to a customer's question is exempt. But a message counts as commercial if encouraging a purchase is one of its purposes, so a helpful reply that ends with an offer may count.

What each commercial message needs

From tomorrow, each commercial email needs the following:

The contact details must stay valid for 60 days too. A mailing service handles the link, but an unsubscribe also covers offers sent from staff inboxes and any other list the business keeps.

Express and implied consent

Express consent means the person agreed to a request that said who was asking, what would be sent and that they could withdraw. A box that arrives already ticked is not consent.

Implied consent comes from an existing relationship: a purchase or a contract within the last two years, or an enquiry made within the last six months. It lapses when those periods end.

It also covers someone who handed you a business card, or published their address without saying no to messages, when what you send relates to their work.

What the transition allows

For three years from tomorrow, a relationship that exists on July 1 and already includes commercial email carries implied consent without the two-year and six-month limits.

A customer from years ago who has been receiving your newsletter all along can therefore keep receiving it through the transition, unless they unsubscribe.

The transition is not a reason to wait. Use it to turn implied consent into express consent, by asking the people you already write to.

A worked example

An office furniture dealer, selling from a showroom and warehouse in a Kamloops business park, supplies new and used desks, chairs and filing to offices across the Thompson and the Cariboo, and emails a monthly list of arrivals.

Two of its salespeople also send their own offers to clients from their work inboxes. Those messages carried no mailing address and offered no way to opt out.

Last week the office manager matched the monthly list against invoices and quote records, then copied the salespeople's client contacts into the same spreadsheet, with the basis for each address beside it.

Recent buyers, and clients who had received the list all along, were marked as implied consent. About two hundred addresses matched nothing, and today they get one plain request to stay on.

From tomorrow, the salespeople's offers carry the company's name, mailing address and a line on how to opt out, and every opt-out goes on one list the office checks before each send.

Addresses with no history

Any business with a list older than its records has the same problem. Sort first: addresses you can tie to a purchase, a contract, an enquiry or a sign-up, and the rest.

For the rest, today differs from tomorrow. A request for consent sent by email today is outside the law; from tomorrow, the request itself counts as a commercial message.

If you send one, keep it plain: who you are, what you will send, how often, and that they can withdraw at any time. Record each yes with its date, and drop those who stay silent.

The footer and the link

Look at the bottom of your newsletter template now. It should carry the business name, a mailing address and a phone number or web address, all of which will still work in two months.

Click the unsubscribe link on a test message. It should work without a login or a password, cost nothing, and remove the address without asking for reasons.

Messages sent from staff inboxes count too. A sales representative's monthly offer to clients needs the same details and a line explaining how to opt out.

Keeping the proof

If a complaint is ever made, it is the sender who must show that consent existed. A list that cannot say where its addresses came from gives the sender nothing to point to.

Keep the source and date for every address, the wording of each sign-up form, and copies of consent requests and replies. Store unsubscribes too, so a removed address never returns in an import.

This is a general outline of the law as it begins, not legal advice for your own list, and a lawyer is the person to ask about anything unusual in yours.

The counter-case

Firms whose email is all replies, quotes and order confirmations, with no promotions at all, have much less to do tomorrow.

A small firm writing to a handful of regular business clients about their own work may also find that much of its email falls outside the consent rules.

But any newsletter, offer or invitation sent to a list is a commercial message, and the list behind it needs the sorting described here, starting today.

Before the end of today

  1. Export the list with every field it holds.
  2. Add columns for each address's source and date.
  3. Sort the addresses by the basis for consent.
  4. Delete bought lists with no consent record.
  5. Decide today about the addresses with no history.
  6. Check the footer and test the unsubscribe link.
  7. Save the record with today's date on it.

Step five has a deadline of midnight. From tomorrow an emailed request for consent becomes a commercial message too, which means people with no other basis must be asked today or not by email.

Which details to keep for each address, and why a careful record beats a rushed request for permission, are covered in last month's consent records to gather before CASL starts.

Frequently asked questions

When does CASL take effect?

Tomorrow, July 1. From then on, commercial email sent from Canada or opened in Canada must meet its rules on consent, identification and unsubscribing.

What details go in every commercial email?

The business name, a postal address, a second contact route (telephone, email or website) and a free unsubscribe that keeps working for 60 days.

How long do I have to act on an unsubscribe?

Ten business days at the most, and it applies to every commercial message the business sends, including offers written from staff inboxes.

Who counts as having implied consent?

Buyers and contract holders from the past two years, people who enquired in the past six months, and business contacts who gave you a card or published their address, for work-related messages.

What does the three-year transition allow?

Relationships that exist on July 1 and already include commercial email keep implied consent for three years, without the usual time limits, unless the person unsubscribes.

Can I still email people to ask for consent?

Today, yes. From tomorrow the request itself counts as a commercial message, so it may go only to people whose consent you already hold.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Mailing list with a history nobody recorded?

Send us an export today, and we will help you sort it by consent before the first send under the new law.

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