What information must be included in emails under CASL?

Still have a question, spotted an error, or have a better explanation or a source we should cite?

Every commercial email you send to Canadians needs to include three things. Miss any one and you're out of compliance.

Clear sender identification. Your name (or your organization's name), and the name of anyone on whose behalf you're sending, if that's different. It's not enough to have a legitimate From address. Recipients need to be able to identify who is contacting them without having to dig.

Contact information valid for 60 days. A mailing address, plus at least one of: a telephone number, an email address, or a web address. This contact information needs to stay accurate for at least 60 days after sending. If someone tries to reach you through it in week seven and it's already stale, you're in violation. This is CASL's equivalent of CAN-SPAM's physical address requirement, but it's stricter: you need to provide a way to reach you, not just prove you exist.

A functional unsubscribe mechanism. Clear, prominent, and easy to use. No fees, no login required, nothing beyond providing an email address and unsubscribe preference. The mechanism must stay active for at least 60 days after sending, and you have 10 business days to process requests. That's slightly different from CAN-SPAM's 30-day link requirement and same 10-day processing window.

Quick check: does your current email footer have all three? If you're not sure, run it through the free Email Header Analyzer to verify your sending identity is clear, then check the footer manually against the three requirements. If anything's missing, compare to CAN-SPAM's similar requirements and see what you can consolidate.

Contributors

Who worked on this answer

Every name links to their profile. Every company links to their site. Real people, real accountability.

Ask an AI · tailored to your setup

Check my email footer against CASL requirements.

I read this on the Email Almanac about what information must be included in emails under CASL. I want to check whether my email template meets CASL's three requirements. My current email footer: 1. Does it include my organization's name? yes / no 2. Does it include a mailing address plus contact method that's been valid for at least 60 days? yes / no / unsure 3. Does it include a clear unsubscribe link? yes / no 4. Is the contact information current and monitored? yes / no / unsure 5. Have I ever had an unsubscribe link break or expire? yes / no / unsure --- My details: - Email platform/ESP: e.g. Mailchimp, Kit, Klaviyo - Business type: B2B / B2C / newsletter / e-commerce - Audience locations: Canada-heavy / some Canadian / global - Current email footer: paste it if you can - Laws I comply with: CASL / also CAN-SPAM / also GDPR / unsure

Edit the yellow boxes, then send to the AI of your choice.