Glossary

What is CASL?

CASL, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, regulates commercial electronic messages sent to people in Canada. It is stricter than US law: you generally need consent, either express or implied, before sending. Implied consent can cover a business address that is conspicuously published, if the message is relevant to the person's role. Unsubscribes must be actioned within 10 business days.

Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 24 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.

What kinds of consent does CASL recognise?

CASL consent, in summary
Kind	What it means
Express consent	The person agreed, verbally or in writing, to receive messages from you
Implied consent	Only in certain circumstances, such as an existing business relationship, and generally time limited
Conspicuous publication	A published business address can imply consent if the message relates to the person's role and they did not say they want no messages

From the Government of Canada's consent guidance, read 19 October 2026 for is cold email legal.

What must every message include?

Who is sending, and on whose behalf.
Contact information for the sender.
An unsubscribe mechanism that works, at no cost, actioned within 10 business days.

What are the penalties?

The maximum penalties are up to $1,000,000 for an individual and up to $10,000,000 for any other person, according to the law's text as summarised in is cold email legal. These are ceilings, not typical fines. The Canada market page covers how Sellinger customers reach Canadian leads.

How Sellinger handles it

Cold email can carry an unsubscribe line and the standard one click unsubscribe headers (List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post). It is a per mailbox setting. When a contact replies with an opt out such as STOP or unsubscribe, in English, Bulgarian or German among other forms, the contact goes on the team's suppression list, the agent stops and the lead is closed out. A weak or unclear phrase never writes the permanent record: the agent stops and a person decides.

Before every send on email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, the platform checks the team's suppression list and refuses the send when the contact is on it or when the check cannot be completed. This is not legal advice. Laws change and your facts matter, so check with a lawyer in the countries you target.

Common questions

Can I cold email Canadian businesses?

Only with consent, express or implied. A conspicuously published business address can imply consent for messages relevant to the person's role. Check with a lawyer.

How fast must I honour an unsubscribe under CASL?

Within 10 business days, at no cost to the person.

Does CASL apply if I am outside Canada?

It applies to messages sent to people in Canada, wherever you are.

Sources and method

Government of Canada CASL consent guidance and the Act's penalty section, as summarised in is cold email legal, read 19 October 2026. Sellinger behaviour from the fact register, checked 24 October 2026.