Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) protects consumers and businesses from the misuse of digital technology, including spam and other electronic threats.
Government of Canada
www.fightspam.gc.ca
About CASL
CASL generally prohibits the sending of commercial electronic messages (CEMs) without the recipient's consent (i.e. permission), also known as 'spam'. CEMs includes messages sent to an email address or social networking account, as well as text messages sent to a cell phone. CASL also specifies information that must be included in all CEMs, such as an easy-to-use 'unsubscribe' mechanism as well as the sender's contact information.
CASL does not apply to CEMs sent between individuals in the same organization provided that the message relates to the activities of the organization. This means that messages from a 'ucalgary.ca' email address to another 'ucalgary.ca' email address are exempt from CASL as long as the message relates to the University’s activities and/or operations.
Furthermore, CEMs sent by the University for the primary purpose of raising funds are not subject to CASL.
Applying CASL
The following is a series of common University of Calgary activities and whether or not CASL applies.
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Purpose of Message
Communicating with faculty/staff/students
Communicating with people who are not faculty/staff/students but are using an @ucalgary.ca email address
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Does CASL Apply?
No
No
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Purpose of Message
Promoting or recruiting students for programs that are primarily educational e.g. academic/professional/continuing education programs
Application, admissions, and registration processes for educational programs
Collecting information from prospective students for statistical purposes
Promoting the purchase of products, goods, or services that are related to the educational purpose of the University e.g. course materials, meal plans, residences
-
Does CASL Apply?
No
No
No
No
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Purpose of Message
Recruiting faculty and staff to work at the University
Communications from providers informing faculty and staff about employee benefits and services e.g. pension, health care plan, faculty/staff housing plan
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Does CASL Apply?
No
No
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Purpose of Message
Providing information to alumni or the public regarding University activities
Promoting 3rd party products or services
Raising funds for the University where a charitable tax receipt is provided
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Does CASL Apply?
No
No
No
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Purpose of Message
Promoting events that relate to the core activities of the University e.g. student athletics, faculty/student concerts or art exhibits, academic conferences, research workshops
Promoting events that do not relate to the core activities of the University e.g. professional sporting events held in University facilities
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Does CASL Apply?
No
Yes
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Purpose of Message
Providing information to the public about research activities
Requesting funding for a research project from a funding agency or clinical trial sponsor
Communicating with other researchers about research activities
Recruiting research subjects
Collecting research data
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Does CASL Apply?
No
No
No
No
No
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Purpose of Message
Making an inquiry about products, goods, or services offered by a 3rd party
Communicating with an employee, representative, consultant, or franchisee of a 3rd party in which the University has a relationship with and where the message concerns the activities of the 3rd party
Using publicly available email addresses where there is implied consent under CASL (note that the sender's identity, contact information, and an unsubscribe mechanism is required)
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Does CASL Apply?
No
No
Yes
-
Purpose of Message
Promoting services offered by the University that do not relate to the core activities e.g. outdoor equipment rentals to the public
Responding to inquiries or delivering any of the foregoing services at the request of a 3rd party
Obtaining payment from a 3rd party for any of the foregoing services where there is a legal obligation to pay e.g. debt collection, invoicing
Promoting or recruiting individuals for non-educational programs
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Does CASL Apply?
Yes
No
No
Yes
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A commercial electronic message (CEM) is an electronic message in which it would be reasonable to conclude that the content (including the message, the hyperlinks within the message that link to content on a website or other database, or the contact information within the message) encourages participation in a commercial activity.
CASL does not apply to phone calls or information sent by regular mail.
Commercial activity is defined as any activity of a commercial character, whether or not there is an expectation of profit. Examples of commercial activity include (i) the purchase, sale or lease of goods, services or land, (ii) providing a business, investment or gaming opportunity, and (iii) advertising or promoting any of these activities.
The core activities of the University, i.e. teaching, learning, scholarship and research, are not commercial activities. Consequently, electronic messages that relate solely to these core activities are not CEMs. Messages about student recruitment and information sessions, or about public lectures, exhibitions or performances relating to faculty or student initiatives are also examples of messages related to the University’s core activities. For more guidance, please refer to the Applying CASL section of our Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation page.
It may be difficult to determine whether an electronic message relates to any of the University's core activities or whether it promotes a commercial activity. If you are uncertain about whether or not a message has a commercial purpose, please contact us.
If the dominant purpose of a message is educational, informational or for raising funds, normally CASL will not apply. However, if there is commercial content in the message which encourages participation in a commercial activity, such as a banner ad for a commercial product/service or a link to a for-profit business' website, this is now a 'mixed purpose' message in which CASL may apply.
If you are uncertain about whether or not a message has a commercial purpose, please contact us.
Generally, you need the recipient’s consent before you send them a CEM. Consent can be expressed (opt-in) or implied. Consent is implied if (i) the sender and the recipient have an existing business or non-business relationship, or (ii) the recipient's has given or has conspicuously published their business contact information, and the CEM is relevant to the recipient’s business/role and the recipient has not indicated they do not want to receive unsolicited CEMs.
Exceptions include messages sent:
- in response to a recipient’s request for information;
- to facilitate or complete a transaction the recipient previously agreed to; and
- to provide factual information related to a recipient’s ongoing subscription or membership with the sender.
An existing business relationship is a relationship between the sender (i.e. the University) and the recipient of a CEM resulting from:
(i) the recipient’s purchase, sale or lease of goods, services or land within the last 2 years;
(ii) the recipient’s acceptance of a business, investment or gaming opportunity within the last 2 years;
(iii) a written contract between the recipient and the University relating to some other matter, if the contract is still in effect or has expired within the last 2 years; or
(iv) an inquiry or application made, within the last 6 months, by the recipient to the University relating to anything in (i) or (ii).
An existing non-business relationship is a relationship between the sender (i.e. the University) and the recipient of a CEM resulting from:
(i) a donation or gift made by the recipient to the University within the last 2 years;
(ii) volunteer work done by the recipient for the University within the last 2 years; or
(iii) membership in a club, association or voluntary association in the past 2 years.
CEMs that are subject to CASL must contain the following information.
- the name of the University, as well as the faculty, school, institute, centre, or administrative unit sending the message
- the full mailing address of the sender as well as a phone number, email address, or website where the sender can be contacted
- an unsubscribe mechanism
The unsubscribe mechanism must be easy to use, free of cost, and must take effect within 10 business days. It should allow the recipient to unsubscribe from the mailing list used to send the message that prompted the unsubscribe response. It should not ask the recipient if they wish to unsubscribe from all commercial electronic messages sent by the University since, at this time, there is no way to ensure that request can be implemented across all faculties, schools, institutes, centres, and administrative units. Remember to keep track of all unsubscribe requests to ensure that in the future CEMs are not mistakenly sent out to an individual who does not wish to receive them.
It is good practice to include an unsubscribe mechanism on all electronic messages, whether or not they are CEMs, if those messages are sent to parties external to the University. For example, messages simply inviting alumni to University events or asking donors for a donation should include an unsubscribe mechanism.