Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is being introduced on July 1st, 2014. This legislation puts restrictions on what is, and what is not considered acceptable forms of electronic messaging. Moving forward businesses must ensure that there is expressed (explicit) or implied consent before emailing or texting people in Canada. This law also pertains to those in the U.S or overseas who are contacting Canadians via electronic messages.

Let's take a look at what it means to receive expressed or implied consent:

Expressed Consent: The recipient has given you direct permission to email them for business purposes. This could be via a mailing list sign up form on your website, or a confirmation link in an email etc. There must be an affirmative action whereby the person clearly identifies that they wish to be contacted by you. You must also include the option to unsubscribe from your communications at all times. A record of this expressed consent must be kept.

Implied Consent: Revolves around the notion that you are allowed to email someone because you have an existing business relationship with them. An "existing business relationship" exists where the sender and recipient have engaged in business together within the previous two years from the date the message is sent.