COMPLYING WITH CANADA’ S TELEMARKETING LAWS
BY FLORENTINA G. STANCU-SOARE
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Canada has a set of distinct telemarketing laws and regulations. If you are calling Canadian consumers or businesses, the Canadian rules apply, regardless of where your team is based. Canadian companies may be held liable for violations committed by their agents even if they are offshore.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission( CRTC) enforces the federal telemarketing rules through the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.
Canada ' s federal National Do Not Call List( DNCL) is a registry where consumers register their phone numbers to opt out of telemarketing calls.
Here are the key provisions of Canada’ s telemarketing rules.
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
Contact centers must build compliance into their operations. Before launching any campaign, the fundamentals must be in place:
• Subscribe to the National DNCL.
• Scrub calling lists against the registry every 31 days at most.
• Verify any exemptions.
• Maintain records for three years. During every call, agents must:
• Display valid caller ID.
• Identify themselves, company name, and purpose of call.
• Log all do not call( DNC) requests.
There are new call traceback capabilities, which mean that carriers must be able to identify and trace the origin of suspicious or fraudulent calls across networks. This should help address practices like local number spoofing as it becomes more easily detectable.
CALLING HOURS
The permitted calling hours are as follows based on the recipient’ s local time, not the caller’ s:
• Weekdays: 9:00 AM – 9:30 PM
• Weekends: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
CANADIAN COMPANIES MAY BE HELD LIABLE... EVEN IF THEY ARE OFFSHORE.
It’ s important to always check local holiday calendars as they vary by province and territory. Calling on statutory holidays is prohibited in several jurisdictions, including( but not limited to) Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and British Columbia.
AUTOMATED DIALING DEVICES( ADADs)
If using auto-dialers, which are systems that automatically dial phone numbers and deliver pre-recorded messages, the ADAD rules apply.
Key requirements include:
• Mandatory express consent to use an ADAD.
• A live agent must be available to handle the call when a consumer engages.
• Inclusion of a recorded message that clearly identifies the company and provides a contact number.
Before launching a campaign, verify that you meet the ADAD requirements.
EXEMPTIONS
Certain relationships and consent types create exemptions to the DNCL requirements, but they come with strict conditions. Exemptions include existing business relationships( recent purchases or inquiries) and business-to-business calls.
Even with these exemptions, if a consumer asks to be added to an internal DNC list, that request must be honored within 14 days, and records kept for three years. No exceptions.
PENALTIES
Violations carry administrative monetary penalties of up to $ 1,500 per violation for individuals and up to $ 15,000 per violation for businesses.
In 2024-2025, the CRTC issued 154 warning letters, five citations, and 25 Notices of Violations( NoVs).
Here are common compliance mistakes:
• Calling numbers that are on the National DNCL.
• Using stale DNCL data( older than 31 days).
• Ignoring internal DNC requests.
• Not providing proper identification during calls.
• Failing to display valid caller ID.
• Calling outside permitted hours.
--Florentina G. Stancu-Soare, Director, Public and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Marketing Association( CMA).
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