Fact sheet

Telemarketing

Important Notice: The CRTC has been authorized to establish a national Do Not Call List (DNCL), select a third-party administrator for the national DNCL, and to levy administrative monetary penalties. In order to do this, the CRTC asked for input on the development and operation of the DNCL, as well as input on what specific DNCL and telemarketing rules are necessary and held a public hearing in May 2006.  More information on this public process is available at the following address: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2006/may2.htm.

What is telemarketing?

Telemarketing is one way that businesses can advertise their products and offer their services. They will often use professional telemarketers or call centres to make telephone calls and send faxes to potential customers on their behalf.

To generate funds, charitable organizations will sometimes contact potential donors directly or through a telemarketing firm using unsolicited telephone calls or faxes.

You may also receive a telephone call where no one is on the other end. It can be annoying and frightening. These calls are often the result of something called "predictive dialing". Some telemarketing organizations use automatic dialers to place telephone calls or send faxes. A "dead air" or "hang up" call will occur if a telemarketing representative isn't available when the call is answered. Generally, companies allow sufficient time between calls for a representative to be available; however, if the telemarketing representative is on another line longer than expected, the result is "dead air".

Do any rules or restrictions apply to telemarketers?

Yes. Restrictions apply to all telemarketers, although they may differ depending on whether they use a fax or a telephone. As a minimum, telemarketers must maintain "Do not call/fax lists" and provide customers with a fax or telephone number where a responsible person can be reached. Specific rules are included at the end of this document.

I don’t want telemarketers to call or fax my home or business. What can I do?

1. As a first step, call the telemarketers directly and ask to be removed from their fax lists or tell them you want to be placed on their "do not call" lists when they contact you by telephone. Most problems will be resolved at this point.
2. If you are unable to contact the telemarketing company or if you continue to receive telephone calls/faxes, contact your telephone company for assistance.
3. If you aren’t able to reach the telemarketer or have yourself removed from a fax/calling list and if the telephone company has been unable to assist you, contact the CRTC and we will pursue the matter with the telephone company on your behalf.
4. In addition, you can register to have your telephone number(s) removed from marketing lists by mailing your request to the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), P.O. Box 706, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T6, or faxing it to (416) 441-4062 or by completing the registration form at www.the-cma.org. Not all telemarketers are members of the CMA so this will not eliminate all unsolicited telemarketing calls. Make sure you indicate your first and last names as well as your complete address and all telephone numbers, including any Ident-A-Call numbers. This free service is valid for three years and applies to telemarketing calls received by mail, telephone and fax.
5. You might also wish to consult the front pages of your local telephone directory under Privacy Issues to see what you can do to have your name removed from any directories made available by your local telephone company to publishers of independent paper and electronic directories, including the Canada 411 Internet directory. You might also want to contact your local telephone company directly to be removed from its telemarketing lists.

Telephone companies and the CRTC will be able to assist you most effectively if you remember to do the following:

• Keep the faxes you receive;
• Note the date and time of the phone call and, if it is available, any number that appears via call display; and
• Write down the date, time, full name of the person you speak to at the telemarketing company or the telephone company, along with a summary of your conversation.

What are the consequences if telemarketers don’t follow the rules?

Telephone companies can notify these telemarketers that telephone service to the lines used in connection with placing calls (telephone or fax) may be suspended or disconnected within two business days.

Explanatory Note: New telemarketing rules were announced in May 2004. In September 2004 the CRTC suspended the enforcement of these new rules pending its determination on applications to review and vary the May 2004 Decision.

Reference documents: Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-35; Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-63

Current Telemarketing Rules

Telemarketing refers to the use of telecommunications facilities to make unsolicited calls for the purpose of solicitation where solicitation is defined as the selling or promoting of a product or service, or the soliciting of money or money's worth, whether directly or indirectly and whether on behalf of another party.  This includes solicitation of donations by or on behalf of charitable organizations.

These rules apply to all unsolicited calls for the purpose of solicitation. They apply to business-to-business telephone solicitation and calls from businesses to existing customers.

These rules do not extend to calls where there is no attempt to advertise a product, offer a service; for example, calls for emergency purposes, calls to collect overdue accounts, calls for market or survey research, and calls to schedule appointments.

Faxes:

• Calling hours are restricted to weekdays between 9AM and 9:30PM and weekends between 10AM and 6PM. Restrictions refer to the time zone of the called party.
• Must identify the person or organization on behalf of whom the fax/call is made, including the telephone number, fax number and name and address of a responsible person to whom the called party can write. This rule also applies to organizations sending unsolicited fax calls on behalf of another organization.
• Must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where the call originator can be reached (except where number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
• Sequential dialing is not permitted.
• Fax calls are not permitted to emergency line or healthcare facilities.
• Names and numbers must be removed within 7 days of the called party’s request.
• DO NOT CALL lists are to be maintained by the calling party and remain active for three years.

Telephone Calls:

• Callers must identify the person or organization they represent.
• Upon request, callers must provide the telephone number, name and address of a responsible person the called party can write to.
• Callers must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where the caller can be reached (except where the number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
• Names and numbers of called parties must be removed within 30 days of the called party’s request.
• DO NOT CALL lists are to be maintained by the calling party and remain active for three years.
• There are no calling hour restrictions on live voice calls.
• Sequential dialing is not permitted.
• Calls are not permitted to emergency line or healthcare facilities.
• Random dialing and calls to non-published numbers are allowed.

Automatic Dialing and Announcing Devices (ADADs):

ADADs are equipment that store and dial telephone numbers automatically. They may be used alone or with other equipment to deliver a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.

ADADs are permitted when there is no attempt to sell, such as:

• calls made for public service reasons, including emergency and administrative purposes by police and fire departments, schools, hospitals, or similar organizations,
• calls to collect overdue accounts, market or survey research calls or calls to schedule appointments.

ADADs used for the purpose of solicitation are prohibited, including calls made on behalf of a charity, radio station promotions, or calls referring the called party to a 900/976 service number.

• Weekday calling hours for permitted calls are from 9:30AM to 8PM; Saturdays from 10:30AM to 5:00PM and Sundays from noon to 5:00PM. These hours do not apply to emergency situation announcements.
• Calls should begin by identifying the person or business on behalf of whom the call is made, including a mailing address and a toll-free telephone number.
• ADAD calls must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where they can be reached (except where number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
• Permitted unsolicited ADAD calls must not be placed to emergency lines or healthcare facilities.
• Sequential dialing is prohibited.
• Equipment must disconnect within 10 seconds after the called party has hung up.

Date Modified: 2006-05-11

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