Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and mortgage marketing, explained

Our provincial advertising rules explainer covers what a mortgage broker can truthfully claim in an ad. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is a separate, federal law about a different question: whether a broker was allowed to send you a marketing email or text message in the first place, regardless of what it says once it arrives.

What counts as a covered message

CASL applies to a "commercial electronic message" (CEM) — an email, text message, or similar electronic communication that encourages participation in a commercial activity, sent to an electronic address, where the message can be accessed by a computer system located in Canada. A mortgage broker's promotional email, a rate-update text blast, or an automated "check in on your renewal" message to a past client are all CEMs if they have a commercial purpose, regardless of how personal or routine they look.

Consent: express or implied, and the implied kind expires

A sender generally needs consent before sending a CEM. Express consent requires the recipient to take some clear, opt-in action — checking a box, replying "yes," signing up on a form — specifically for electronic messages, not just a general agreement to be contacted. Implied consent exists without that opt-in step where an existing business relationship already exists, but it isn't permanent: implied consent from an existing relationship (like a completed mortgage transaction) generally lasts two years from that relationship's starting point, after which a broker needs to either obtain express consent or stop sending CEMs to that contact, even if the person was a genuine past client.

Every CEM needs identification and a working unsubscribe link

Separate from the consent question, every CEM has to identify who sent it (and, where relevant, on whose behalf) with accurate contact information, and has to include an unsubscribe mechanism that's simple to use and stays functional for at least 60 days after the message was sent. An unsubscribe request itself has to be honored within 10 business days — a broker can't simply let an opt-out request sit unprocessed while continuing to send messages.

Real penalties, but no private lawsuit — a deliberate gap

CASL violations can draw administrative monetary penalties of up to $10 million per violation for an organization and up to $1 million for an individual, enforced by the CRTC. What CASL doesn't currently provide is a private right of action — a provision that would have let an individual consumer sue a business directly over a CASL violation was written into the original 2014 law but never actually took effect; the federal government indefinitely suspended it by Order in Council in June 2017, citing business and non-profit concerns about litigation risk, and it has not been revived since. A consumer's real path today is a regulatory complaint, not a private lawsuit.

What this page is, and isn't: an explanation of a real federal law governing electronic marketing, for general understanding — not a claim about any specific Canadian broker's or brokerage's actual marketing practices. We do not name, rank, vet, or imply any verdict about a specific Canadian broker, originator, or brokerage on this or any Library page, and our published standard and Register remain United States-only.

What to actually check

If you're getting mortgage marketing emails or texts you don't remember signing up for, check whether the message identifies the sender clearly and includes a working unsubscribe link — if either is missing, or an unsubscribe request goes unhonored past 10 business days, that's reportable to the Spam Reporting Centre at fightspam.gc.ca, the CRTC's own complaint intake for CASL violations.