Are voicemail drops legal in Canada?

Yes. A Canadian business can send a recorded voicemail to people who agreed to hear from it, inside the hours the rules allow, with a message that says who is calling and how to reach them. The rules are the CRTC's Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, and follow-up texts fall under Canada's anti-spam law, CASL.

This page sets out what those rules say, with a link to each one, as read on November 3, 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice: for your own campaigns, ask your lawyer.

The short answer

• A voicemail drop is an "ADAD" message. The CRTC's rules call any equipment that delivers a pre-recorded or synthesized voice message an automatic dialing-announcing device (ADAD). A voicemail made from a cloned or a house voice counts too.

• A message that sells needs express consent first. The person must have agreed to recorded messages from your business, for that phone number. Business numbers are not exempt, and an existing customer relationship is not enough on its own.

• Calling hours are the recipient's local time: 9 AM to 9:30 PM on weekdays and 10 AM to 6 PM on weekends.

• The message says who is calling and why, with an address and a number where someone can be reached.

• Follow-up texts are covered by CASL: consent, your business's name and a working way to opt out, such as replying STOP.

What counts as a recorded message

Part I of the rules defines the device:

A voicemail campaign delivers a pre-recorded or synthesized voice message to a list of numbers, so the ADAD rules apply to it, whether each person hears one take or a message made for them.

Consent for a message that sells

Part IV, section 2 of the rules:

Section 3 says the consent must clearly show the person's authorization for recorded messages from a specific business, and must include the specific phone number they may be sent to.

Two points buyers often miss:

• Calls to businesses. The National Do Not Call List rules don't apply to calls made to a business, but the ADAD rules do. Part IV says: "The ADAD Rules apply whether or not the telemarketing telecommunication is exempt from the National DNCL Rules."

• An existing customer relationship. In 2014 the CRTC was asked to allow recorded sales messages to existing customers without express consent, and refused. See Compliance and Enforcement Regulatory Policy CRTC 2014-155, "Review of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules".

What a message must say

For a recorded message that doesn't try to sell, Part IV, section 4 sets the conditions. The message must:

• begin with a clear message naming the person or business it is sent for, and briefly say what it is about;

• give an email or postal address and a local or toll-free number where a representative can be reached;

• repeat that identification at the end if the message runs longer than 60 seconds;

• show the number it comes from, or another number where the sender can be reached;

• keep that address and number working for at least 60 days after it is sent.

A telemarketing call, under Part III, must also identify the caller and the business it calls for, and give a number and an address when asked. Every caller keeps its own do-not-call list: a request is added within 14 days and kept for three years and 14 days.

Calling hours

Both the ADAD rules (Part IV, section 4) and the Telemarketing Rules (Part III) restrict calls to these hours, read in the recipient's local time. A province's own law can narrow them further for an activity it governs.

The Call Guy's hours sit inside the CRTC's. Weekdays end half an hour early, on purpose. See Calling hours.

Follow-up texts and CASL

CASL leaves voice recordings sent to a phone out of its consent section: section 6(8)(c) excludes a commercial electronic message "that is a voice recording sent to a telephone account". The voicemail itself is the CRTC's rules' business.

A text is different. The CRTC's CASL questions and answers say commercial texts "are subject to CASL", so a follow-up text needs:

• Consent. Express consent, or implied consent from an existing business relationship: under section 10(10), that lasts two years after a purchase or lease, and six months after an inquiry.

• Identification. The name your business goes by, and a way to reach it.

• A way to opt out that costs nothing, such as replying STOP. A request is honoured without delay, and no later than 10 business days after it arrives.

See Rules for follow-up texts for how The Call Guy's follow-up text meets each one.

What The Call Guy checks for you

The rules are the sending business's to keep, and The Call Guy builds them into every campaign:

• Consent first. You confirm your list's permission for recorded messages before a campaign can move on, and you sign every campaign. See Consent comes first.

• Calling hours. A campaign can only start inside them, and nothing is delivered outside them.

• Canada only. Canadian businesses and Canadian numbers; numbers outside Canada and toll-free numbers are set aside and never sent. See Across Canada.

• Opt-outs. One STOP opts a person out, and opt-outs are honoured before anything else sends.

• A person reviews. A person on the team reviews every campaign before release, unless your business chose Send on my own and signs for its campaigns itself.

Related

• Rules and consent

• What the service won't be used for

• What is a voicemail drop?