Nikolas Laufer-Edel's Blog

Dealing with Telephone & Snail Mail Spam (in Canada)

1. Register for the National Do Not Call List
2. Register for the Do Not Contact Service (snail mail)

For phone calls, the National Do Not Call List applies to all telemarketers with the exception of:

• registered charities
• political parties
• newspapers
• companies with which you have an existing relationship
• companies you have given permission to call
• market research and polling firms

You can notify the CRTC of violations, but if the company falls into one of the categories above you have to ask to be on their specific Do Not Call list.

For snail mail, the Do Not Contact Service applies to the members of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) which only represents 800 of 1.4 M companies in Canada. You’re also not protected from:

• local merchants
• professional and alumni associations
• political candidates and office holders