Text Messaging Compliance
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      CASL- Compliant Text Messaging Explained

      Legal Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Information on this website are published by Kimoby to provide your business with free information regarding the laws and policies described. While Kimoby provides a communications platform built with compliance in mind, you should contact an attorney before sending a launching a text message marketing campaign for your business. You should also consult with legal professionals regarding any questions or advice you may have about Canada's Anti-spam Legislation.

      CASL in a nutshell

      Compliance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation boils down to four basic rules:

      1. You must have a form of valid recipient consent.
      2. You must provide a valid, easy-to-use unsubscribe mechanism.
      3. You must clearly identify yourself and your business.
      4. Your messages must not be false or misleading.


      Implied Consent to Texting

      Implied consent is considered a bare minimum CASL requirement for sending SMS text messages from your business to an outside phone number. There are two types of people with whom you have implied consent: People with whom you have an existing business relationship and prospects.

      Existing Business Relationship

      An existing business relationship only occurs if a person has purchased a product, a service, or made a formal agreement with your business within the last 2 years. Simply put, they are a customer of yours.

      Under CASL regulations, you have a customer’s implied consent to send them SMS text messages up to 2 years after their most recent purchase with your business. 


      For example:
      If a customer purchased something from your business on December 31st, 2023, you can continue texting them until December 31st, 2025.

      • If they make another purchase within that timeframe, the date of that purchase becomes the new starting point for their 2-year implied consent.
      • If they do not make another purchase, you no longer have their implied consent to continue texting them after December 31st, 2025.

      Prospects 

      In contrast to the above, a prospective customer (prospect) is a potential customer who has shown interest in your product or service but has not yet made a purchase. 

      Under new CASL regulations, you are allowed to send SMS text messages to a prospect up to 6 months after they have given you their contact information.


      For example:

      If someone has been enquiring about your services and has left their phone number, you can text them for the next 6 months. 

      • If they have made a purchase within that time, they become a customer and you have their implied consent to continue texting them. 
      • If they have not made a purchase within that time, they are no longer considered a prospect and you no longer have their implied consent to text them.

      Read full CASL text about Existing Business Relationship


      Implied consent can expire

      Texting your customer John Doe based on his implied consent will never get you into trouble with CASL. However, you must know that implied consent doesn't last forever. Before you assume your customer John Doe's implied consent and start texting away, the single most important question you must ask yourself is:

      WHEN WAS THE LAST TRANSACTION BETWEEN JOHN DOE AND MY BUSINESS?

      Let's reword the question to fit specific situations:
      When was the last time John Doe purchased a vehicle from my dealership?
      When was the last time John Doe came for a service appointment?
      When was the last time John Doe bought anything from us?

      Regardless of which of the above questions fits your context, if that last transaction was more than 24 months ago, you should not text John Doe because his implied consent is no longer valid. The existing business relationship you had with this customer happened too long ago.

      Luckily, CASL exempts various messaging scenarios applicable to your business context. The following messages are exempt from CASL requirements:

      • Messages sent in the context of full on, two-way conversations with customers.
      • Messages sent as direct response to customer questions, requests or inquiries.
      • Messages that provide customers with warranty, safety recall or legal information about products or services they purchased from your business.
      • Messages that facilitate, complete or confirm transactions with your business.

      Read full CASL text about Implied Consent

      CASL compliance is built-in your text messages

      For all text messages falling under the jurisdiction of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, Kimoby systematically appends the proper unsubscribe mechanism mandated by CASL, and the sender information link required by CRTC regulations. 

      Automated unsubscribe mechanism

      Recipients can easily opt out of receiving your text messages by texting any of the following unsubscribe keywords: STOP, END, QUIT or UNSUBSCRIBE. Kimoby automatically handles unsubscribe requests and unsubscribe list management for you, behind the scenes. 

      Open text requests to unsubscribe

      Not everyone is comfortable with text messaging and opt out keyword commands. Recipients can easily request to unsubscribe in their own words by replying naturally to any of your text messages. 

      Manual unsubscribe button

      The recipient's opt-out request is viewed in the conversation screen by one of your staff who then handles the unsubscribe process manually using the unsubscribe button found in the customer profile screen.