CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation)
CASL requires express or clearly implied consent before you send commercial email, identification of the sender in every message, and a working unsubscribe honoured within ten business days. There is no business-to-business exemption, penalties reach ten million dollars, and directors can be named personally.
What the rule requires
Opt-in consent before any commercial email or text. Up to $10M per violation.
Who it catches
Anyone sending commercial email, SMS or social messages to Canadians - there is no B2B exemption and no general org exemption. The CRTC can fine a business up to $10M per violation and name directors personally.
How to check whether you comply
Read it yourself
We would rather you checked us than took our word for it. This links to the law as published, not to our summary of it.
We have a longer piece on this: compliance watch.
Questions people ask
What are the rules for sending marketing emails in Canada?
CASL requires express or clearly implied consent before you send commercial email, identification of the sender in every message, and a working unsubscribe honoured within ten business days. There is no business-to-business exemption, penalties reach ten million dollars, and directors can be named personally.
Who does CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) apply to?
Anyone sending commercial email, SMS or social messages to Canadians - there is no B2B exemption and no general org exemption. The CRTC can fine a business up to $10M per violation and name directors personally.
How do I check whether we comply with CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation)?
For every list: can you prove opt-in (or a valid implied-consent basis with its expiry clock)? Does each message carry your identification and a working unsubscribe honoured within 10 days? Keep the consent records. You can also run our free website check, which tests 25 technical items in about twenty seconds, or book a review if this rule needs a documented answer.
Other rules that catch the same businesses
Find out which of the 33 apply to you
The fine risk check asks a few questions about your business and tells you which rules catch you, with the deadlines. Nothing you tick leaves your browser.
Check my fine riskThis page summarises a legal obligation in plain language so you can work out whether it applies to you. It is not legal advice, and the primary source linked above governs. Last reviewed 2026-10-03.