Messaging Compliance in Canada

Overview

Commercial electronic messages in Canada, including SMS, are governed by Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). You need express or implied consent, must identify the sender and must include a working unsubscribe mechanism.

Canadian websites should follow PIPEDA (and provincial laws where applicable) for collecting personal information, with a clear privacy policy and meaningful consent.

Search in Canada is mostly in English, with French essential in Quebec and for bilingual audiences; multicultural regions such as the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver also benefit from community-language targeting.

WhatsApp is a major business channel in much of Latin America, while in the US and Canada it is used alongside SMS. Consent and data protection laws in each country apply to WhatsApp marketing.

Automated and prerecorded calls are tightly regulated in the US (TCPA and the National Do Not Call Registry) and Canada (CRTC Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules), and other countries in the region have their own registers and rules.

Advertising Rules

Advertising should follow the Competition Act and Ad Standards' Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, including disclosure of influencer content.

Digital Habits and Channels in Canada

Canadians are heavy smartphone users, and SMS and iMessage remain the default way to text friends, while WhatsApp is popular in immigrant communities, especially South Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American households. Businesses typically send texts from toll-free or short-code numbers rather than alphanumeric sender IDs, which Canadian carriers do not generally support, and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association administers the common short code programme.

Interac e-Transfer is the everyday way to send money between people, and debit (Interac) and credit cards dominate in-store. Prices are usually shown before GST/HST and provincial sales tax are added. Key retail moments include Boxing Day, Black Friday, back-to-school in late August and Canada Day on 1 July, and French-language versions are expected for audiences in Quebec.

Canada's economy includes energy, mining, forestry, agriculture, manufacturing and a large services sector, with banking concentrated in Toronto. Sales taxes vary by province: some combine federal and provincial tax into a single HST, while others charge GST plus a provincial tax. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires express or implied consent, sender identification and an unsubscribe mechanism for commercial electronic messages, including texts. Interac e-Transfer is the most common way to send money, and the National Do Not Call List covers telemarketing.

Practical Details

Country code +1; time zone America/Toronto; currency Canadian dollar (CAD).

Cities we cover in Canada

• Toronto
• Brampton
• Mississauga
• Vancouver
• Surrey
• Calgary
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• Edmonton
• Winnipeg
• Hamilton
• Kitchener-Waterloo
• Quebec City
• Halifax
• Markham
• Vaughan
• Oakville
• Windsor
• London (Ontario)
• Regina
• Saskatoon
• Victoria
• Kelowna
• Abbotsford
• Laval
• Gatineau
• Sherbrooke
• Trois-Rivières
• Longueuil
• Guelph
• Barrie
• St. John's
• Moncton

General information, not legal advice, as of October 2026.