On July 1, 2014, CASL — Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation — comes into effect. Its aim is to reduce the flow of unsolicited email/electronic messages or ‘spam’.
Colleges Ontario has worked with Adrian Liu and Victoria Prince atBorden Ladner and Gervais to develop the following six “do” and “don’t” suggestions to help ensure we are all in compliance:
1. DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MESSAGES (CEMs).
The basic rule under CASL is that a sender needs the recipient’s consent in order to send a Commercial Electronic Message (CEM). If a sender does not have consent from a person (whether express or implied), CASL prohibits the sender from sending CEMs to that person. CASL encourages organizations to obtain express consent. Express consent is the “gold” standard because there is no time limit. If a person gives express consent to receive CEMs from the college, the college may send them messages indefinitely, subject to the person unsubscribing or otherwise withdrawing consent (and assuming that the consent was worded broadly to include all CEMs, and the request for consent complies with CASL).
2. DO NOT ADD PEOPLE TO MAILING LISTS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
Be careful about adding new contacts to the college’s mailing lists. Just because a person consents to receiving information from the college for one purpose, it does not mean the person has consented to receiving all marketing or promotional emails from the college, or that that person can be added onto every mailing list that the college has. For example, if a prospective student asks for information about a particular program and the college emails that information, that does not mean the person can be added onto the college’s general mailing lists for sending newsletters, fundraising materials,
3. DO INCLUDE THE CONTENT REQUIREMENTS IN ALL COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MESSAGES.
Generally speaking, the content requirements need to be in every CEM that is subject to CASL. This may apply even if there is implied consent to send the message.
4. DO NOT IGNORE REQUESTS TO UNSUBSCRIBE.
Starting July 1, there is a legal requirement for unsubscribe requests to be effective within 10 business days after the request was sent. Given the purpose of CASL, it is a best practice to start honouring unsubscribe requests now, and to do so in a quick and efficient manner.
5. DO NOT “COLD EMAIL” PERSONS WITH WHOM YOU HAVE NOT DEALT BEFORE.
CASL prohibits sending unsolicited CEMs. If an email is sent to an unknown person, or a person that has no relationship with the college (e.g., a potential student, a potential donor, a new vendor/supplier) and that email promotes the college in any way or has some commercial purpose, that practice could violate CASL. As mentioned above, CASL does not apply to phone calls or paper mail, so CASL does not prohibit colleges from contacting these people by phone or mail instead.
6. DO NOT PANIC!
Many organizations across Canada, including other educational institutions and charities, are assessing how to comply with CASL. One of the difficulties is that since CASL is new legislation, there is some uncertainty about what some of the provisions mean and how they should be interpreted. Since there is a limited amount of time before July 1, we recommend that the college take action now to get into compliance with CASL.
If you’re still feeling uncertain about the new law and how it affects you, you may wish to click on the following links to review Sheridan’s CASL Q&A, a checklist which has been prepared to help you determine if the email you’re about to send falls under the scope of the new law, or the CASL slide deck. Please note that you will be prompted to enter your Sheridan single sign on credential in order to access these documents.
If your area requires assistance to send a mass email to your distribution list in order to obtain the ‘express consent’ needed to continue sending Commercial Electronic Messages to your contacts after July 1, you may wish to contact sheridanemail@sheridancollege.ca for assistance.