Commercial Electronic Message (CEM)
Practical Law Canada Glossary w-011-5204 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Commercial Electronic Message (CEM)
A commercial electronic message (CEM) is any electronic message sent to an "electronic address" by means of a telecommunication for the purpose of encouraging participation in a commercial activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit. A commercial activity may include, without limitation:
- An offer to purchase or sell goods or services.
- An offer to provide a business opportunity.
- Messages that contain promotions or advertisements related to any of these types of offers.
A CEM includes:
- Email.
- Texts.
- Instant messages.
- Messages to telephone accounts.
- Messages to any "similar account" such as social media messaging and other digital messaging system.
An electronic message that requests the recipient's consent to receive further electronic messages is also a CEM.
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, An Act to Promote the Efficiency and Adaptability of the Canadian Economy by Regulating Certain Activities that Discourage Reliance on Electronic Means of Carrying out Commercial Activities, and to Amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act, S.C. 2010, c. 23 (CASL), prohibits the sending of unsolicited CEMs unless the sender has obtained prior express or implied consent from the recipient as defined under CASL. CASL also requires that even with consent, CEMs must contain an unsubscribe mechanism and certain disclosures such as:
- The name under which the sender carries on business or the person or organization's legal name.
- The mailing address and either:
- a telephone number providing access to an agent or a voice messaging system; or
- an email address or web address of the sender.
CASL applies to any CEM that is sent from a computer within Canada or accessed by a computer in Canada. This means that organizations operating totally outside Canada are likely required to comply with CASL if they communicate with Canadian customers or clients.
CASL does not apply to:
- Electronic messages that are displayed to the public such as banner or box advertisements.
- Public Facebook wall posts and normal posts on X (but does apply to private messages sent through these social media platforms to individual or multiple recipients).
- Interactive two-way voice communications between individuals.
- Facsimile transmissions.
- Voice recordings sent to telephone accounts.
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