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How to get consent for voicemail and text campaigns in Canada

Ask where customers already give you their number, such as the bill of sale, the service check-in or a web form. Name your business, say recorded messages and texts, include the phone number, keep a record, and honour every opt-out. Sample wording, where to ask, and what doesn't count.

Ask for it where your customers already give you their phone number: the bill of sale, the service check-in, an estimate form, a web form or a booking. One clear, unticked box that names your business, says "recorded voicemail messages and texts" and shows the number covers what Canada's rules ask of a message that sells. Keep a record of each yes, and honour every opt-out.

This page is a practical summary of the CRTC's rules and CASL as read on November 6, 2026, with a link to each source. It is not legal advice: have your lawyer read your own wording.

A recorded voicemail that sells needs express consent under the CRTC's Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The rules say that consent must clearly show:

  • that the person agreed to recorded messages,

  • from your business by name,

  • at a specific phone number.

A follow-up text is a commercial electronic message under CASL. When you ask for express consent to it, CASL section 10 and the CRTC's guidelines on its regulations say the request must set out:

  • why you're asking: the kinds of messages you'll send;

  • who is asking: the name your business goes by;

  • how to reach you: a mailing address, and a phone number, email address or website;

  • that the person can withdraw their consent at any time.

One request can cover both, as long as it says both.

Sample wording

Beside an unticked box:

Yes, [Business] may send me recorded voicemail messages and text messages about my [vehicle's service, offers and events] at the phone number above. I can withdraw this consent at any time by replying STOP to a text, by calling [phone number] or by emailing [email address]. [Business], [mailing address].

Adjust the words in square brackets to what you will actually send. If you'll send sale invitations, say offers or events. If you'll only send service reminders, say service reminders.

Where to ask

Ask at the moments a customer already gives you their number:

  • A dealership: the bill of sale or lease paperwork, the service check-in, the online service booking, a showroom visit form, the credit application.

  • Trades and home services: the estimate request, the work order, the booking form.

  • Any business: the website's contact and booking forms, an in-store tablet, a membership or loyalty sign-up.

Keep the consent box apart from your terms and conditions. The CRTC's guidelines say a request for consent should not be bundled into agreeing to the general terms of a sale.

Keep the record

Under CASL section 13, the business that says a person consented has to prove it. For each yes, keep:

  • the person's name and the phone number it covers;

  • the date, and where it was given (the form, the visit, the call);

  • the exact wording they agreed to, kept by version, so you can show what each person saw.

The CRTC's guidelines accept consent given out loud when it can be verified, for example by a recording of the call.

What doesn't count

  • A pre-ticked box. The CRTC's guidelines on toggling say a box must be ticked by the person, not ticked for them.

  • A bought or borrowed list. Consent is given to a specific business. A list's consent to someone else is not consent to you. See What the service won't be used for.

  • A customer relationship on its own, for a recorded message that sells. The CRTC refused to allow this in 2014. See Are voicemail drops legal in Canada?.

  • Silence. No reply to an email asking "let us know if you'd rather not hear from us" is not a yes.

CASL lets a business text someone it has an existing business relationship with, without express consent, for a time: two years after a purchase or lease, and six months after an inquiry. That implied consent covers texts, not recorded messages that sell. The Call Guy asks for more than the law's minimum: every campaign records that the people on its list gave your business express consent to be called and texted. See Consent comes first.

Honour every opt-out

  • Texts. A STOP reply opts the person out. CASL asks that an unsubscribe request be honoured without delay, and no later than 10 business days after it arrives. At The Call Guy, one STOP opts a person out and opt-outs are honoured before anything else sends. See Opt-outs.

  • Calls. The CRTC's rules ask every business that calls to keep its own do-not-call list: a request is added within 14 days and kept for three years and 14 days.

  • Every list after. Never add an opted-out number back to a list, even from a new export.

Common questions

Not for a recorded message that sells. The CRTC's rules need express consent to recorded messages, and in 2014 the CRTC refused to make an exception for existing customers. For texts, CASL's implied consent from a purchase or inquiry can apply for a limited time.

Yes, when it can be verified. The CRTC's CASL guidelines accept consent given out loud when there is a record, such as a recording of the call. Keep the recording with the date and the number it covers.

No. The CRTC's guidelines say the person must tick the box themselves. A box ticked for them is not express consent.

Express consent under CASL lasts until the person withdraws it. Implied consent from a purchase or lease lasts two years, and from an inquiry six months. Honour a withdrawal on any channel, at any time.

Who has to prove a customer consented?

The business sending the message. CASL puts that onus on the sender, so keep the date, the wording and the number for every yes.

Last updated November 6, 2026

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