Canada Anti-Spam Law
Canada’s long-awaited anti-spam law (CASL) went into effect on July 1, 2014. CASL prohibits virtually all unsolicited commercial electronic messages (CEMs). This includes emails, texts, SMS, and instant messages that encourage participation in a commercial activity (i.e., marketing and/or sale of the USANA opportunity and/or products). CASL does not apply to voicemail, telephone calls, facsimile messages, auto-recorded voice calls, or any non-commercial electronic message. The law applies to Canadian residents sending CEMs to other Canadian residents AND any individual or business outside of Canada sending CEMs to Canadian residents. Subject to certain exemptions, no individual or business inside or outside of Canada may send an electronic message to a Canadian recipient unless the Canadian recipient has given the sender permission to send the message (express, opt-in, or implied consent based on an existing business, personal, or family relationship). CASL does not apply to messages from charities or political campaigns.
What CASL Means for USANA Associates:
- Associates DO NOT need permission to send messages to other Associates (business-to-business messages are exempt from the express, opt-in, or implied consent requirements of CASL);
- Associates DO NOT need to get express consent to continue sending messages to their existing and active* customers (retail customers and personally sponsored Preferred Customers) because they have an existing business relationship with these individuals (i.e., implied consent);
- Associates DO NOT need to get express consent to send messages to prospective customers and distributors with whom they have a personal, family, or business relationship (i.e., implied consent);
- An Associate CAN contact a referral with whom he/she does not have a relationship, but ONLY IF (a) the Associate has a business, personal, or family relationship with the person making the referral, (b) the person making the referral has a business, family, or personal relationship with the person being referred, AND (c) the Associates discloses the name of the person making the referral in the message to the recipient;
- Associates MUST obtain express consent to contact any third party with whom they do NOT have some type of business/non-business relationship.
*An “active” customer is one with whom the Associate has an existing business relationship based on one of more of the following: (i) the purchase of a product, goods, or a service within the past two years, or (ii) an inquiry or application within the past six months.
All Messages MUST Contain the Following Information:
- Non-misleading subject header and content (neither the message nor its content may be false or misleading in any way);
- The identity of the Associate sending the message (full name, sender’s mailing address—DOES NOT have to be a home mailing address, but it CANNOT be USANA’s mailing address—and the Associate’s telephone number or email address);
- A valid, working unsubscribe mechanism.
Individuals sending messages that do not comply with CASL may be fined up to $1 million, and organizations that send non-compliant messages may be fined up to $10 million. Additionally, recipients of non-compliant messages can sue senders for $200 for each non-compliant message they receive. Fines like these can be easily avoided by following good communication practices and keeping your contact lists up to date.
Last modified: February 28, 2018
