CASL Compliance

01 What is CASL?

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) — officially S.C. 2010, c. 23 — is one of the world's strictest anti-spam laws. It came into force on July 1, 2014, and governs the sending of Commercial Electronic Messages (CEMs) to and from Canadian electronic addresses.

A CEM is any electronic message (email, SMS, social media message, or instant message) that encourages participation in a commercial activity — including promoting a product, service, person, or organization.

CASL is enforced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Competition Bureau, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

02 Who Must Comply?

CASL applies to you if:

• You send commercial electronic messages to Canadian email addresses
• You are a Canadian business sending CEMs to anyone, anywhere
• Your messages are routed through Canadian computer systems

There is no geographic exemption — if you send to Canadians, CASL applies to you regardless of where your business is located.

03 Express vs. Implied Consent

Express Consent

Express consent is the gold standard under CASL. It occurs when a person explicitly opts in to receive your commercial messages through a clear, positive action such as checking an unchecked opt-in box or submitting a sign-up form.

• Express consent does not expire unless the recipient withdraws it
• You must keep a record of when, how, and from whom you obtained consent
• The opt-in request must clearly describe what messages the person will receive
• Pre-checked boxes do not constitute express consent under CASL

Implied Consent

Implied consent is more limited and time-bounded. It may exist when:

• There is an existing business relationship (e.g. a purchase) — valid for 2 years
• A person has made an inquiry or application — valid for 6 months
• The email address was conspicuously published without a no-contact statement
• The recipient gave the address directly to the sender without opting out

04 Required Message Elements

Every commercial electronic message you send must include the following elements:

• Sender Identification: Clearly identify yourself or your organization as the sender
• Contact Information: Provide a mailing address and either a phone number, email address, or web address where recipients can reach you
• Unsubscribe Mechanism: Include a clear, easy-to-use unsubscribe link or mechanism (see Section 5)
• No Deception: Subject lines and sender names must not be false or misleading

BouncePro automatically inserts your contact information and an unsubscribe link in every campaign sent through our platform.

05 Unsubscribe Requirements

Under CASL, your unsubscribe mechanism must:

• Be clearly and prominently set out in the message
• Be able to be readily performed — one click is the standard
• Remain functional for at least 60 days after the message is sent
• Be processed within 10 business days of the request
• Not require the recipient to create an account or provide information beyond their email address
• Be free of charge to the recipient

BouncePro handles all unsubscribe processing automatically and maintains a suppression list that prevents future sends to opted-out addresses.

06 How BouncePro Helps

BouncePro is engineered from the ground up with CASL compliance in mind. Here's what we automate for you:

• Consent Tracking: Record and store opt-in timestamps, source, and method for every subscriber
• Automatic Unsubscribe Links: Every email includes a compliant, one-click unsubscribe link
• Suppression List Management: Unsubscribed addresses are automatically blocked from future campaigns
• Sender Identification: Your business name and contact info are included in every message footer
• Implied Consent Expiry Alerts: We flag contacts whose implied consent window is approaching expiry
• Double Opt-In: Optional double opt-in flow to generate bulletproof express consent records

07 Your Responsibilities

While BouncePro automates many compliance tasks, you remain responsible for:

• Obtaining valid consent before adding contacts to your lists
• Maintaining accurate consent records outside of BouncePro where applicable
• Ensuring your email content is not false or misleading
• Providing accurate sender and contact information in your account settings
• Not uploading purchased, rented, or scraped email lists
• Complying with all other applicable privacy and anti-spam laws in your jurisdiction

08 Penalties for Non-Compliance

CASL carries some of the steepest penalties of any anti-spam law in the world:

• Up to $1,000,000 CAD per violation for individuals
• Up to $10,000,000 CAD per violation for businesses
• Officers, directors, and agents can be held personally liable
• A private right of action allows individuals to sue for damages

09 CASL Compliance Checklist

Use this checklist before sending any campaign through BouncePro:

10 Questions & Support

Our team is happy to help you understand how to use BouncePro's compliance features. For platform-specific questions, reach out to our support team: