Bill C-28 – What Every Marketer Needs to Know

It has been a little over a month since Canada’s new anti-spam [Bill C-28] received Royal Assent from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston (Governor General of Canada) and we are waiting patiently for the set of regulations that will outline the specifics. If you missed our first two blog posts about Bill C-28, you can read them in this condensed new post here.

In summary:

Bill C-28 (The Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act) is scheduled to come into force this September, but the final date is to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

As stated in the Bill itself – “the enactment establishes a regulatory framework to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities.”

Does this apply to me? Bill C-28 is not restricted to residents or companies in Canada, it applies to all marketers sending email to or from Canada and effectively renders CAN SPAM and its incumbent opt-out permission obsolete.

The good folks at Return Path have teamed together with Thindata, the Law Office of Kris Klein and CAUCE to publish an excellent guide on what you need to know about Bill C-28.

The full text of the law as passed by Parliament and which received Royal Assent can be found here.

As noted in this report from thewirereport.ca, Industry Canada is currently in the process of conducting a consultation with the industry before the Bill comes into force and any regulations are passed.

It is important to note that all senders (whether in Canada or not) should plan for the changes now so that you are not caught off guard later. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our Delivery team. CakeMail will continue to keep all of our clients informed as matters develop.

Bye for now,
Kevin

Kevin Huxham is CakeMail’s Director of Deliverability. You can follow Kevin on twitter @cakemail_kev.