CanadaTelecommunications Act, Unsolicited Telecommunications and the National Do Not Call List
Also known as National Do Not Call List, DNCL.
S.C. 1993, c. 38, ss. 41, 41.1 to 41.7, 72.01
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force.
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- Comply with any order the Commission makes under section 41 prohibiting or regulating the use of a Canadian carrier's telecommunications facilities for unsolicited telecommunications; this power does not reach a commercial electronic message that Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation section 6 already governs.
- Do not make, or cause to be made, a telecommunication restricted by a Commission order or requirement made for the purpose of the National Do Not Call List, unless an exemption in section 41.7 applies: an existing business relationship (a purchase or lease within the last 18 months, or an inquiry within the last 6 months, or a subsisting written contract) with no do-not-call request registered against you, a registered charity, a registered political party or its candidates and their campaigns, a survey of the public, or a newspaper-subscription solicitation.
- If you rely on one of those exemptions other than the survey exemption, identify at the beginning of the call the purpose of the telecommunication and the person or organization on whose behalf it is made, and maintain your own do-not-call list honouring anyone who has asked not to be contacted on that basis.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
A contravention of a Commission prohibition or requirement under section 41 can instead be prosecuted as a summary-conviction offence, carrying a fine of up to $10,000 for an individual's first offence ($25,000 for a subsequent one) or up to $100,000 for a corporation's first offence ($250,000 for a subsequent one); the same contravention cannot be proceeded against as both an administrative violation and an offence.
Penalty structure
The maximum administrative monetary penalty for a single violation of a Commission prohibition or requirement under section 41 is $1,500 for an individual and $15,000 for a corporation. A violation continued on more than one day is a separate violation for each day it continues.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- CAD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 15,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, through persons it authorizes to issue notices of violation, subject to representations to the Commission and appeal under section 64; a contravention may instead be prosecuted as a summary-conviction offence, and a person harmed may bring a civil action under the Act's general civil-liability provision.
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition, Disclosure
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 41 lets the Commission, by order, prohibit or regulate the use of a Canadian carrier's telecommunications facilities for unsolicited telecommunications, to the extent it considers necessary to prevent undue inconvenience or nuisance, but this power expressly does not reach a commercial electronic message that section 6 of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation already governs.
Sections 41.1 to 41.7, added in 2005, create the legislative framework for a National Do Not Call List, letting the Commission administer the list and investigate contraventions, and exempting a telecommunication made by or for a registered charity, made to a person with an existing business relationship who has not asked not to be called, made by or for a registered political party or a candidate or nomination or leadership contestant's campaign, made solely to survey the public, or made solely to solicit a newspaper subscription.
A caller relying on one of these exemptions (other than the survey exemption) must identify at the outset the purpose of the call and the person or organization on whose behalf it is made, and must maintain its own do-not-call list honouring anyone who has asked not to be contacted on that basis.
A contravention of a Commission order or requirement under section 41 is a violation carrying an administrative monetary penalty of up to $1,500 for an individual or $15,000 for a corporation, with each day a violation continues capable of being a separate violation, or, exclusively of the administrative-penalty route, a summary-conviction offence.
Anyone who has sustained loss or damage from an act or omission contrary to the Act or a Commission decision, including a section 41 order, may sue for their actual loss within two years under the Act's general civil-liability provision.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.