A CASL COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

YOUR ONLY DEFENCE AGAINST PENALTIES

A CASL COMPLIANCE PROGRAM:

YOUR ONLY PROTECTION AGAINST PENALTIES

With penalties up to $10 million, the Canadian Anti-Spam Law is severe, but section 33 (1) offers a single defence provision for those that can prove due diligence.

33 (1) Defense

A PERSON MUST NOT BE FOUND TO BE LIABLE FOR A VIOLATION IF THEY ESTABLISH THAT THEY EXERCISED DUE DILIGENCE TO PREVENT THE COMMISSION OF THE VIOLATION.

The CRTC has determined that to benefit from this defence provision, a company must demonstrate that it has implemented a corporate CASL compliance program that meets the eight requirements set out in its Compliance and Enforcement Information Bulletin 2014-326.

The Importance of a Compliance Program

THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF A DOCUMENTED AND EFFECTIVE CORPORATE COMPLIANCE PROGRAM IS A USEFUL RISK-MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: IT MAY (I) REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF BUSINESSES VIOLATING THE RULES AND/OR CASL, AND (II) HELP BUSINESSES ESTABLISH A DUE DILIGENCE DEFENCE IN THE CASE OF A VIOLATION OF THE RULES OR CASL.

CASL COMPLIANCE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT CONSENT

If you believe you are compliant because you have obtained the proper consent, or worse, stopped email marketing altogether, you are wrong and at risk.

You are probably among the 90% of companies that are subject to fines for not being aware of the CRTC’s eight CASL compliance requirements, and the 100+ CASL risks every business faces. As revealed by several studies carried out in the spring of 2017:

Les enjeux des PME québécoises face à la Loi Canadienne anti-pourriel, a survey conducted by Certimail.
CASL Survey Report: Bridging the Gaps in Understanding and Compliance, a joint study by the Direct Marketing Association of Canada and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin.
Résultats du sondage sur la Loi canadienne antipourriel dans l’industrie de l’assurance, study conducted by Le Journal de l’assurance.

NOT AS COMPLIANT AS THEY THINK

HAVE AN UNSUBSCRIBE MECHANISM IN THEIR EMAILS

DON’T KNOW THAT A COMPLIANCE PROGRAM PROTECTS YOU

HAVE A COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT PROCESS

MEET THE CRTC’S 8 COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS

KNOW THAT CONSENT AND AN UNSUBSCRIBE MECHANISM ARE NOT ENOUGH TO BE COMPLIANT

HAVE CARRIED OUT A RISK ANALYSIS (COMPLIANCE AUDIT)

HAVE A WRITTEN COMPLIANCE POLICY

THE CRTC’S 8 REQUIREMENTS TO BE COMPLIANT

RISK ASSESSMENT (AUDIT)
You must perform an audit of your electronic communication processes, systems and content, across your organisation to identify any real or potential compliance issues related to the management of contacts, consent, email, SMS, other electronic messages, related records, etc.
WRITTEN COMPLIANCE POLICY
You must have a written compliance policy that will be respected by each of your employees. The company is responsible for employee adherence and must demonstrate actions taken to this end. Simply having an employee sign the policy when they are hired is not sufficient according to the CRTC.
AUDITING & MONITORING
You must establish procedures to monitor the correct application of your compliance policy and verify that its various components are respected by both your employees and your external representatives (distributors, agencies, brokers, etc.).
CORRECTIVE (DISCIPLINARY) ACTION
Your policy must identify what actions will be taken if your staff or representatives violate your compliance policy.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
The implementation and proper follow-up of a CASL compliance policy must be made a business priority. As such, senior management must appoint a person responsible for the governance and administration of this policy.
RECORD KEEPING
You must be able to, at all times, provide to the authorities a list of all the persons to whom you have sent electronic communications to during the last three years. You must supply proof of consent, that includes the date of consent for each one of your contacts, as well as transcripts of all the messages you sent to each contact. You must also keep all unsubscribe requests, as well as all complaints received and your respective follow-up. Finally, you must produce all documentation relating to your compliance policy and adherence to it.
TRAINING PROGRAM
You must implement and document a compliance training program for all of your current and future employees.
COMPLAINT-HANDLING SYSTEM
You must provide your contacts with mechanisms to complain if they receive non-compliant messages. You must systematically process and document each complaint and provide this information at the request of the authorities.

DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE CRTC INVESTIGATES YOU

CRTC officials regularly hold conferences in which they insist that every Canadian company must implement a CASL compliance program sooner or later and that it is better to do so before being the victim of a costly and arduous investigation.

Jean-Pierre BlaisFormer President of the CRTC – during a talk to The Canadian Marketing Association

I know you don’t want us to show up at your home or place of business with a warrant. I know you don’t want to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. I know you don’t want your company’s name splashed all over the news in such a context.

Invest your time and attention to get your activities in compliance as soon as possible.

CHOOSE THE OPTION THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU

Certimail offers various CASL compliance approaches tailored to the needs and budgets of all types of SMBs.
Certimail’s solutions enable you to meet regulatory compliance by implementing email marketing best practices.
Our clients have set-up their CASL compliance programs easily and quickly while seeing an increase of their email marketing results.

GET IN GOOD STANDING WHILE TURNING A LEGAL OBLIGATION INTO A MARKETING INVESTMENT

PROFESSIONALS

If you are self-employed, a professional, a freelancer, or an organisation with no employees other than yourself, this option is for you.

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SMALL BUSINESSES

For companies with 2 to 10 employees including external representatives, Certimail offers a complete and affordable approach.

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LARGER BUSINESSES

From CASL audits to certified compliance programs, to email marketing optimization, Certimail offers tailored solutions for companies with more than 10 employees.

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