CRTC Telemarketing Rules and Regulations:

Definitions
Telemarketing refers to the use of telecommunications facilities to make unsolicited
telephone calls or to send unsolicited faxes to consumers for the purpose of solicitation.
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 or on behalf of another party.
This includes calls made for donations by or on behalf of charities.

A telemarketer is any person or organization who makes telemarketing calls on their

own behalf or who makes telemarketing calls for someone else.

Any person or organization who has engaged a telemarketer to make calls on their
behalf is a client of a telemarketer

You may receive a telephone call where no one is on the other end: this is often
referred to as a “dead air” call. These calls are often the result of something called
"predictive dialing." Some telemarketers use predictive dialers to place telephone calls
or send faxes. A "dead air" or abandoned call will occur if a telemarketing representative
is not available when the call is answered by the consumer. 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.” An abandoned call is a call that is not answered by a telemarketing representative
within two (2) seconds.

National Do Not Call List Rules

• Telemarketers are not to call you if your telephone number has been registered
on the National DNCL for more than 31 days, unless you have given prior express
consent to be called.

• Telemarketers and Clients of Telemarketers must subscribe to the National

DNCL and pay any applicable subscription fees.

• The National DNCL must not be used for any purpose other than compliance
with the Rules.
• The National DNCL must not be sold, rented, leased, published or disclosed to
any person outside of the telemarketer’s or client of the telemarketer’s organization.

• The National DNCL may be shared with a person who provides services that
enables the telemarketer or client of a telemarketer to comply with the National DNCL
Rules.

• Organizations who are making telemarketing calls that are exempt from the
National DNCL Rules must:

o maintain an internal do not call list and respect your specific request not to be
called;

o tell you the purpose of the telemarketing call at the beginning of the call; and,

o identify on whose behalf the call is being made.

Telemarketing Rules

Apply to both voice and fax telemarketing calls:

• Calling hours are restricted to weekdays (Monday to Friday) between 9:00 am

and 9:30 pm and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.
Restrictions hours refer to the time zone of the customer receiving the telephone calls.

• For any telephone numbers provided to a consumer:

o the telephone call shall be answered either by a live operator or a voicemail

system to take messages from the consumer. The voicemail must inform consumers
that their call will be returned within three (3) business days.

o the telemarketer or the client of the telemarketer must return the consumer's call
within three (3) business days.

• Telemarketers must display the originating calling number or an alternate number

where the call originator can be reached (except where the number display is
unavailable for technical reasons).

• Sequential dialing is prohibited.

• Random dialing and calls to non-published numbers are permitted, except to
numbers that are registered on the National DNCL, are emergency lines, and are
associated with healthcare facilities.

• Internal do not call lists are to be maintained by the telemarketer on its own
behalf or on behalf of a client of a telemarketer and remain active for three (3) years
effective within thirty-one (31) days from the date of the consumer's do not call request.

• A telemarketer using a predictive dialing device to initiate a call shall not exceed,
in any calendar month, a five (5) percent abandonment rate. The telemarketer and/or its
client shall maintain records of actual abandonment rates for a period of three (3) years
from the date each monthly record is created.

Telemarketing Rules that apply only to voice telemarketing calls:

• A telemarketer making a telemarketing call must process a do not call request

from a consumer at the time of the call. The consumer shall not be asked to call
elsewhere to make their request.

• At the beginning of a call a telemarketer must:

o identify the name or fictitious name of the individual placing the call;

o identify the name of the telemarketer whether calling on its own behalf or on
behalf of a client of the telemarketer;

o provide the purpose of the call (if the call is exempt from the National DNCL
Rules).

• Upon request, a telemarketer must:

o provide a local or toll-free number allowing the customer access to speak to an

employee or other representative of the telemarketer and where applicable, its client;

o provide the name and address of an employee or other representative of the

telemarketer and where applicable, its client, to whom the consumer can write.

o the name and address of an employee or other representative of the

telemarketer, or client where applicable, to whom the consumer can write.

• Calling hours are restricted to weekdays (Monday to Friday) from 9:00 am to 9:30
pm and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) except where
provincial laws apply to the specific type of call. The hours refer to those of the person
receiving the call. These hours do not apply to emergency situation announcements.