CASL rules for newsletters and SMS: consent, identification and unsubscribe

01What counts as a commercial electronic message

The Government of Canada's CASL guidance and the CRTC publish the definitions and exceptions. When a message mixes information and promotion, the safest course is to treat it as commercial.

02Consent: express and implied

Express consent is the person clearly agreeing to receive commercial messages from you, and it lasts until they withdraw it. The cleanest form is an unchecked box or a dedicated signup that states what they will receive and from whom. Pre-checked boxes and consent buried in terms are not the standard to aim for.

Implied consent arises in limited situations, such as an existing business relationship, and it is time-limited. Relying on it means tracking when each relationship started and expires, which few small businesses can do reliably. The practical rule: get express consent, record it and keep the record.

03Identification and unsubscribe

The second and third requirements are mechanical, which makes them easy to get right and embarrassing to get wrong.

• Identification: the name of the business sending the message (and of any business it is sent on behalf of), a mailing address, and a way to contact you such as a phone number, email address or web address that stays valid for a period after sending.
• Unsubscribe: a mechanism in every message that works without cost or difficulty, and that you honour promptly, within the period the law sets.
• Keep the unsubscribe working: a broken link in one campaign is a compliance problem for every recipient of it.

04Newsletter implications

A newsletter is the most common commercial electronic message a small business sends. These habits keep it on the right side of the law.

• Build the list only from express consent captured on your own forms, with a record of date, source and what was promised.
• Never buy or scrape lists; you cannot show consent for them.
• Confirm signups by email (double opt-in) if you want a defensible record and a cleaner list.
• Keep the footer complete: business name, mailing address, contact method, unsubscribe.
• Separate transactional messages from marketing so that a customer who unsubscribes from offers still gets their receipts.
• Send in French to Quebec customers where the Charter of the French Language applies.

05SMS implications

SMS is a commercial electronic message when it promotes something, and it is more intrusive than email, so treat it with more care. Consent for SMS should be captured separately from email consent and should say that messages will arrive by text. Every promotional text needs identification and a way to stop, and the STOP reply must actually stop messages. Appointment reminders that contain no promotion are a different category, but the moment a reminder says 'book your next visit and save', it is marketing.

06A compliant signup flow (how Redenn builds it)

Redenn's newsletter add-on (CA$49) connects a signup form to your email platform with the consent record captured: an unchecked opt-in, a statement of what the subscriber will receive, the business name, and the timestamp and source stored with the contact. SMS automation workflows (from CA$149) capture SMS consent separately, respect STOP, and keep transactional and promotional messages apart.

What Redenn cannot do is decide for you which messages are promotional, or write your identification block: those need your legal name and mailing address, and your judgement.

07Record keeping, and not legal advice

Keep proof of consent for every contact: the form, the wording shown, the date and the source. If a complaint arrives, the record is your defence. This guide summarizes the Government of Canada's published CASL guidance as of 2026-09-24 and is general information, not legal advice; the CRTC and fightspam.gc.ca publish the details and exceptions, and a lawyer can confirm how they apply to your messages.