OTTAWA – Late Friday, the government adopted amendments to the Telecommunications Act which gives the CRTC the ability to establish a national Do Not Call List, aimed towards reducing the volume of telemarketing calls Canadians receive at home.
The amendments also give the CRTC the power to levy substantial penalties against telemarketers who do not follow the rules, and to contract with a private sector third party to operate and maintain the list.
"By passing these amendments, the government has ensured that Canadians will have an easy and effective way to better protect their privacy and reduce intrusive telemarketing calls," said Minister Emerson. "Canadians told us that they wanted this list, and the Government of Canada has delivered."
Once the list is operational, Canadians who do not wish to receive calls from telemarketers will be able to add their telephone number to a single centralized list that telemarketers will be required to download regularly and respect. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have similar systems.
Penalties of up to $1,500 per offending call for individuals and up to $15,000 per offending call for corporations would be imposed for telemarketers who fail to respect the list. Funding to operate the list will be obtained on a cost-recovery basis from telemarketers themselves.
"We are pleased that Parliament has responded to our request to establish a national do-not-call service to address growing consumer annoyance with some telemarketing practices in Canada," said John Gustavson, president and CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association, in a statement.
"Without reasonable laws regulating organizations that use the telephone to market their goods and services, the industry risks losing its right to use this valuable marketing channel to acquire new customers," he added. "At the same time, a national do-not-call service will help protect the viability of a marketing medium that makes a substantial contribution to the Canadian economy, employing over 270,000 Canadians and generating more than $16 billion in sales each year."
Based on estimates from the CRTC, CMA expects the national do-not-call service to be up and running in the summer or fall of 2007.
