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Although Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL), the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (Bill C-28), was signed into law on December 15, 2010, the federal government is still working on the regulations needed to enforce it.
Industry Canada continues to consult with stakeholders about the draft regulations and the federal government may still make changes. There are now reports that the regulations may not come into effect until late 2014.
The goal of CASL is to stop unwanted spam and to target concerns over privacy and personal security, including identity and credit card theft, fraud, and the unauthorized collection of personal information.
What has the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) done to ensure the interests of REALTORS® are protected?
Since 2009, CREA has actively and successfully lobbied to:
· preserve important marketing practices for REALTORS®; and
· ease the burden of complying with CASL.
CREA’s efforts have also resulted in seven significant changes being made to the draft regulations that will make it easier for REALTORS® to build and maintain client relationships under CASL.
They are:
1. A transitional provision will allow REALTORS® to send electronic messages to clients without express consent for three years, provided the relationship existed before the new rules came into force.
2. The amount of time REALTORS® can stay in touch with a client without express consent after a sale has been extended by an additional six months to 24 months in total.
3. REALTORS® can follow up with a potential client after exchanging contact information, including at a networking event, as long as the message is relevant to the recipient’s business.
4. Express consent to send commercial electronic messages can be obtained orally or in writing. Prior to CREA’s lobbying efforts, consent could only be acquired in writing.
5. A tremendous amount of information about the sender was required in a request for consent to send an email. CREA’s efforts have reduced the required information to include only basic contact details.
6. A requirement to have a website in order to send a commercial electronic message was removed.
7. The unsubscribe requirement was significantly streamlined. REALTORS® only need to provide a single functioning unsubscribe mechanism to property buyers and sellers.
© Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver