Bill S-220 explained in plain English
An Act respecting commercial electronic messages
Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. MP vote breakdowns appear when the House of Commons publishes a recorded division export for that bill. Senate and House stage details include official debate/sitting links when LEGISinfo publishes them.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill, known as the Anti-Spam Act, regulates commercial electronic messages by requiring consent, setting content standards, prohibiting certain collection and deceptive practices, and establishing penalties and civil recourse for violations.
Bill S-220, titled the "Anti-Spam Act," aims to regulate commercial electronic messages. It prohibits sending or authorizing the sending of commercial electronic messages without the recipient's consent, though consent is presumed for certain types of messages. The bill outlines specific requirements for the form and content of these messages, including clear sender identification and an accessible unsubscribe mechanism. It also prohibits practices like address harvesting, dictionary attacks, and phishing. The bill establishes offences for violations, with penalties including fines and imprisonment, and creates a civil right of action for those adversely affected by non-compliant conduct. Telecommunications service providers are given the ability to refuse, cancel, filter, or block messages under certain circumstances related to contraventions of the Act.
- Prohibits sending commercial electronic messages without recipient consent.
- Establishes conditions under which consent is presumed for certain messages.
- Sets requirements for the content and form of commercial electronic messages, including sender identification and unsubscribe options.
- Prohibits the use of address-harvesting software, harvested-address lists, dictionary attacks, and phishing.
- Creates offences for contravening the Act's provisions.
- Establishes penalties for individuals and corporations found guilty of offences, including fines and imprisonment.
- Provides a civil right of action for individuals or entities adversely affected by conduct contrary to the Act.
- Empowers telecommunications service providers to refuse, cancel, filter, or block commercial electronic messages under certain conditions.
- Allows the Governor in Council to make regulations to support the Act's purposes.
- Senders of commercial electronic messages
- Recipients of commercial electronic messages
- Corporations
- Individuals
- Telecommunications service providers
- Law enforcement agencies
- National security agencies
- Political parties
- Registered charities
- Educational institutions
- Businesses with existing relationships with recipients
- Individuals performing work, business, functions, or duties for which their electronic address is published
- Obligation to obtain recipient consent before sending commercial electronic messages (unless consent is presumed).
- Right for recipients to withdraw consent.
- Obligation for senders to clearly identify themselves and provide contact information.
- Obligation for senders to include an unsubscribe mechanism.
- Prohibition against misleading subject lines.
- Prohibition against address harvesting and dictionary attacks.
- Prohibition against impersonation and false representations.
- Obligation for businesses to take reasonable measures to prevent sending non-compliant messages and to report contraventions.
- Right for individuals or entities to bring a civil action if adversely affected by conduct contrary to the Act.
- Right for telecommunications service providers to refuse, cancel, filter, or block messages under certain circumstances.
- The Act comes into force 30 days after receiving royal assent.
- Penalties for contraventions can include significant fines for both individuals and corporations.
- Courts may order additional fines equal to estimated monetary benefits accrued from an offence.
- Civil actions may result in damages, including punitive damages and costs of the action.
- Contravention of subsection 8(1) (sending without consent) can result in indictable offences with fines up to $500,000 for a first offence and $1,500,000 for subsequent offences for corporations, or fines up to $500,000 and/or imprisonment up to two years for individuals for a first offence, and higher penalties for subsequent offences.
- Contravention of section 11 (form and content requirements) can result in indictable offences with fines up to $1,500,000 or summary conviction offences with fines up to $500,000 for corporations, or similar fines and potential imprisonment for individuals.
- Contravention of subsection 12(1), sections 13 to 16, or regulations can result in indictable offences with fines up to $1,500,000 or summary conviction offences with fines up to $500,000 for corporations, or similar fines and potential imprisonment for individuals.
- Aiding or abetting contraventions carries the same penalties as the primary offence.
- Officers, directors, or agents of a corporation that commits an offence can be held liable.
- A court may order additional fines equivalent to monetary benefits gained from an offence.
- Civil actions can result in injunctions, orders to refrain from or perform actions, damages (including punitive damages), and costs.
- The bill does not specify the types of regulations that may be made by the Governor in Council beyond general enabling provisions.
- The bill does not specify the exact criteria for 'reasonable grounds' for a telecommunications service provider to believe a message is sent in contravention of the Act.
- The specific 'matters or things' that can be prescribed by regulation are not detailed within the Act text provided.
- The bill does not detail what constitutes an 'existing business relationship' or 'appropriate law enforcement agency'.
Establishes the framework for regulating commercial electronic messages, including prohibitions, requirements, offences, penalties, and civil remedies.
Source: The entire Act
Allows the Governor in Council to make regulations prescribing matters or things required or permitted by the Act, and to generally carry out the Act's purposes.
Source: Section 27
Is referenced for the definition of a registered charity, which is an exempt sender of commercial electronic messages.
Source: Section 8(3)(c)
Is referenced for the definition of a political party, which is an exempt sender of commercial electronic messages.
Source: Section 2
Is referenced for the definition of a telecommunications service provider.
Source: Section 2
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textParliamentary Process
We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Introduction and first reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Sponsor’s speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Debate at second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Response speech yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
Debate and sitting links point to official parliamentary sources when LEGISinfo publishes them. Any plain-language discussion summaries should be generated from those official texts and reviewed before public display.
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced