What is CASL?

CASL is Canada's new anti-spam law. It comes into effect on July 1, 2014. Email under CASL is considered commercial electronic messages or CEMs. These are email messages that promote, or could reasonably be expected to promote, a commercial activity. This includes email messages that offer to sell a product or service, advertise or promote a person's business or professional activities, or solicit a donation. CASL requires that all CEMs include certain information in order to be considered valid, including the sender's name and contact information, and a way for the recipient to unsubscribe from future messages. Additionally, CEMs must obtain explicit consent from recipients before they can be sent.

The answer is businesses and organizations that send email to recipients in Canada, regardless of whether those businesses or organizations are based inside or outside of Canada. This includes email that is sent on behalf of another organization (for example, email sent by a service provider on behalf of their client). If your business or organization meets this criteria, then CASL will apply to you.

CASL does not cover email communications that are sent to an individual who has consented to receiving them, provided the email falls within certain guidelines. For example, an email newsletter that a person has subscribed to would not be covered under CASL. However, emails that are sent as part of a marketing campaign or that contain commercial content (such as ads or promotions) would be covered.