Media Monitoring Reporting for the Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) on Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and related topics

In July 2014, 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 Document Act and the Telecommunications Act came into force. This legislation is otherwise known as Canada’s Anti-spam Legislation (CASL). It protects Canadian consumers from the most damaging and deceptive forms of spam and online threats such as identity theft, phishing and malware. CASL also helps position Canada as a leader in the digital economy.

As of January 2015, all but a few provisions came into force. The remaining provisions related to the Private Right to Action were suspended in June 2017.

The Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) is responsible for CASL communications and outreach activities. They work in collaboration with the policy lead for the file, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada’s (ISED) Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, as well as the three enforcement agencies: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Competition Bureau (CB) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC). As part of this responsibility, OCA is responsible for the media monitoring of the law and analyzing data from various outreach activities.