Who does this apply to?

Anyone relying on implied consent or mailing Canadians with standard ESP footers.

In forceLegalIn force 1 Jul 2014Verified 2 Aug 2026

In Canada, relationship implied consent expires and unsubscribes take ten business days

Q: How long does CASL implied consent last, and how fast must I honour Canadian unsubscribes?

Under CASL's existing-business-relationship route, qualifying purchases and similar events generally support implied consent for two years; qualifying inquiries generally support six months. Express consent does not expire merely because those clocks run out—it lasts until withdrawal unless limited. CEMs must identify the sender, keep contact and unsubscribe details valid for at least 60 days after the message, and complete unsubscribe requests without delay and no later than ten business days.

Q: In plain English?

Under CASL, implied consent is time-limited: roughly two years after certain purchases or six months after inquiries (check the exact statutory basis for your case). Express consent lasts until withdrawn. Honour unsubscribes within ten business days at most. “They bought once in 2019” is not forever.

Q: What happens if you do not?

CRTC actions have included failures around consent proof and unsubscribe practices. Read current notices rather than recycling old blog summaries.

How long does CASL implied consent last, and how fast must I honour Canadian unsubscribes?

Canada

How email works

In one sentence

Canadian implied expires (about two years after a purchase, shorter for inquiries) — unsubscribes must complete within ten business days.

Emailrules interpretation

Under , implied is time-limited: roughly two years after certain purchases or six months after inquiries (check the exact statutory basis for your case). Express consent lasts until withdrawn. Honour unsubscribes within ten business days at most. “They bought once in 2019” is not forever.

Why it matters. Expired implied is a silent landmine for legacy lists and migration projects.

Dotted words open definitions. See how email actually works.

What to do

Your move — not a lecture

Part platform, part you

The platform covers the mechanical bit. The judgement is still yours.

can suppress quickly; configure -aware footers and 10-business-day SLAs.

Your part: Dating the relationship event that started the clock, and not confusing routes.

What to do first

In your , segment Canadians whose last qualifying purchase is older than two years and who lack express . That segment is the implied-consent time bomb.

You can skip this if: You only mail Canadians with current express .

Who this applies to

Anyone relying on implied or mailing Canadians with standard footers.

Checklist

01Store the event date that supports implied , not only "signed up."
02Re- before clocks expire if the relationship still has value.
03Honour unsubscribes within ten business days; operationally aim for same day.
04Keep identification and working for 60 days after each send.

That’s enough to act. The exact wording, the enforcement record and every primary source sit under Proof & sources, for counsel, bosses, or AI tools that need a citation. Not legal advice.

Proof

Exact position, enforcement, sources

For records and people who will check you. Skip if Monday’s move is already clear.

Source fact

Under 's existing-business-relationship route, qualifying purchases and similar events generally support implied for two years; qualifying inquiries generally support six months. Express consent does not expire merely because those clocks run out—it lasts until withdrawal unless limited. CEMs must identify the sender, keep contact and details valid for at least 60 days after the message, and complete unsubscribe requests without delay and no later than ten business days.

What happens if you do not

CRTC actions have included failures around proof and practices. Read current notices rather than recycling old blog summaries.

Sources

CASL sections on implied consent periods and unsubscribe (official consolidation)
Published 1 Jul 2014Read primary source
CRTC CASL guidance
No publisher dateRead primary source

History of this page

2 Aug 2026Added clocks and unsubscribe SLA.

In Canada, commercial email needs provable express or statutory implied consentIn force

Take this with you

GET https://emailrules.today/rules/canada-casl-implied-consent-expires-and-unsubscribe-takes-ten-business-days?format=json

Same URL, same answer, every field including the ones behind the Proof tab. An Accept: application/json header on the plain URL does the same thing. All the endpoints.