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Is B2B cold email legal in Canada? CASL, quoted

Canada starts from the opposite end to the US: no commercial email without consent. The question is when consent is implied.

Updated · By Otman Ounana · How we research

Short answer

Only with consent, but consent can be implied. CASL prohibits commercial email unless the person has consented, expressly or impliedly [1]. Consent is implied when the person conspicuously published the address, did not say they do not want unsolicited messages there, and the email is relevant to their role [2]. Each email must also identify you and include an unsubscribe mechanism [3], honoured within 10 business days [4].

General information, not legal advice, as of the date above. Where a regulator says its guidance is under review, we say so. If your situation is unusual, ask a lawyer who practises in that country.

Section 6 says: "It is prohibited to send or cause or permit to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message unless" the person has consented, whether expressly or impliedly, and the message meets the content rules [1]. Unlike the US, there is no general right to send a first email.

Conspicuous publication: the B2B route

Consent is implied under section 10(9)(b) when all of these are true [2]:

  1. The person "has conspicuously published, or has caused to be conspicuously published" the address you write to.
  2. The publication "is not accompanied by a statement that the person does not wish to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messages at the electronic address".
  3. The message "is relevant to the person's business, role, functions or duties in a business or official capacity".

In practice: an address the organisation or person put on their own website, with no "no solicitations" notice beside it, and an email about their work. An address guessed from a pattern was never published, so this route does not cover it.

Decision table

SituationCan you write?
Address on the organisation's own site, email about the reader's roleYes, implied consent
Same, but the page says they do not want unsolicited messagesNo
Address on their site, email unrelated to their roleNo
Address guessed (firstname@company)No: it was not published
Address bought from a listOnly with proof of consent

What each email must contain

Keep a record

Implied consent rests on facts you may need to show later: where the address was published, when you saw it, and why the email was relevant. Keep the page address and the date for each contact.

How Honest Intros fits

When Honest Intros finds an address itself, it takes it from the organisation's own website and records which page it came from, and each first email quotes that site to show why it is relevant. Every email carries your details, an unsubscribe link and one-click unsubscribe, and an opt-out stops all further email at once. Checking that the page carries no "no solicitations" notice is still yours to do when you approve.

Questions

Is B2B cold email legal in Canada?

Only with consent. CASL implies consent when the person conspicuously published the address, did not say they refuse unsolicited messages, and the email is relevant to their role.

What is conspicuous publication under CASL?

Section 10(9)(b): the person published the address, or had it published, without a statement refusing unsolicited commercial messages, and your message is relevant to their business role.

Can I email a guessed address in Canada?

Not under the conspicuous publication rule: a guessed address was never published by the person.

How fast must I unsubscribe someone under CASL?

Without delay and no later than 10 business days after they ask.

See what it would write for you

Type your website. Honest Intros reads it and shows the kind of first email it writes, quoting your own pages.

Free to start. Nothing is sent until you approve it.

Read next

  • United States (CAN-SPAM)CAN-SPAM for B2B cold email, quoted from the FTC: what every email needs, how fast to honour opt-outs, the per-email penalty, and how to give a postal address without your home address.
  • "Where did you get my email?"What GDPR requires when someone asks where you got their email address after a cold email, with three replies you can send and what to do if they object.
  • Cold email that quotes their websiteHow to personalise cold email from a prospect's own website without inventing anything: quote exactly, cite the page, and check every claim before sending.

Sources

  1. Government of Canada, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23, s. 6(1). “It is prohibited to send or cause or permit to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message unless” Read on 1 October 2026.
  2. Government of Canada, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23, s. 10(9)(b). “the person to whom the message is sent has conspicuously published, or has caused to be conspicuously published, the electronic address to which the message is sent, the publication is not accompanied by a statement that the person does not wish to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messages at the electronic address and the message is relevant to the person’s business, role, functions or duties in a business or official capacity;” Read on 1 October 2026.
  3. Government of Canada, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23, s. 6(2)(c). “set out an unsubscribe mechanism in accordance with subsection 11(1).” Read on 1 October 2026.
  4. Government of Canada, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23, s. 11(3). “no later than 10 business days after the indication has been sent” Read on 1 October 2026.