A Guide to Canada’s Anti-Spam Law
CakeMail today released “CASL: A Guide to Canada’s Anti-Spam Law,” a new report that outlines what every marketer needs to know about CASL, the Canadian Anti-Spam Law, which takes effect on July 1.
“There’s been a lot of confusion about CASL,” says CakeMail CEO Francois Lane. “This new legislation affects all businesses that email anyone in Canada, even those based in the U.S.”
The penalties for not complying with CASL can run as high as $10 million and result in personal liability for company officers and directors.
Email marketing has been a trusted, efficient and cost-effective method to build and maintain relationships with customers for the past two decades. The Direct Marketing Association calculates the ROI of email marketing to be $40 for every dollar invested.
How is this different from CAN-SPAM? CAN-SPAM is a US law that came into effect in 2003 to reduce spam, spyware/malware, phishing and identity theft. While both CASL and CAN-SPAM address anti-spam, they are very different laws with very different consequences.
Unlike CAN-SPAM, which focuses on commercial emails only, and requires American businesses to include an unsubscribe mechanism when sending a commercial email; CASL requires that anyone who accesses commercial electronic messages (CEMs) including email, text messages, social media, IM and voice messages in Canada must give that sender permission beforehand (either implied consent because a relationship currently exists or explicit consent because the recipient requests to receive your emails).
