The Canadian Chamber is very concerned about new “anti-spam” rules the federal
government announced two weeks ago. Canadian anti-spam legislation and the corresponding regulations have taken a “ban-all” approach to regulating commercial electronic messages (CEMs).
All emails, SMS texts, social media sent in a commercial context are captured. The
legislation will obligate the sender to obtain consent from the receiver prior to sending a
CEM. That consent may not be obtained by sending a CEM. The definitions for consent
are quite specific and are more demanding than existing privacy legislation.
The legislation also requires an opt-out mechanism in all CEMs which must be
backstopped with a database with the details of all business/personal relationships and
removals of consent.
The administrative penalties for non-compliance are excessive. The rules would also
provide powers for private parties to sue under the legislation.
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