Rules
How to Nurture Realtor Leads in Canada Without Breaking CASL
Realtor lead nurturing Canada CASL relies on consent records, not copy. It sets who you can email, how long implied consent lasts and complaint rules.
What to take away
- CASL is federal law, and it covers every commercial email, text and direct message a Canadian realtor sends to a lead.
- For most nurture sequences you need express consent, and the burden of proving it sits with you.
- Each message needs sender identification and an unsubscribe that works within 10 business days.
- Implied consent from a property inquiry lasts six months, and from a completed transaction, two years.
- Consent records, unsubscribe requests and complaints must be kept for three years.
Consent in Canada is a documented act, not a feeling about a lead.
Who holds jurisdiction over realtor outreach
The CRTC enforces the Anti-Spam Legislation, known as CASL. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Competition Bureau share the file, so one complaint can arrive through three doors. Any commercial electronic message sent from Canada is in scope. That covers email, text and a direct message from a brokerage account.
Voice calls fall outside CASL. They sit under the CRTC's telemarketing rules and the National Do Not Call List. An agent who treats the phone as the safe channel may still read a script that fails a recording review. The channel changes, and the rule changes with it. Our Realtor Lead Follow-Up System sets out the sequence that runs underneath the rules.
What a compliant disclosure contains
Every message needs the sender's name and the name of the business on whose behalf it is sent. It needs a mailing address, plus a phone number, an email address or a web address. The unsubscribe mechanism must be clear and easy to use. Headers, subject lines and sender names cannot mislead a reader about who is writing.
Oral consent holds for two years unless you confirm it in writing. Written consent that states its purpose holds until the person withdraws it. Neither version helps later if you cannot produce it. The wording a lead agreed to counts as much as the date beside it.
Records to keep for three years
CASL requires proof of consent, plus a record of every unsubscribe request and complaint, kept for three years. Store the date, the source and the exact wording the lead saw.
| Basis for contact | What counts as proof | How long it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Written express consent | Dated sign-up that names the purpose | Until the person withdraws |
| Oral express consent | Written confirmation sent afterwards | Two years if never confirmed |
| Inquiry about a property | Note of the request, date and channel | Six months |
| Completed purchase or listing | Signed transaction record | Two years after the last deal |
| Published business address | Message relevant to that person's role | Six months |
A list built this way also earns replies. Real Estate Email Marketing Program treats the consent line as the first design decision, not the last.
Consent records are also personal information, and the federal privacy overview explains how collection, use and disclosure work for private sector business.
Keep four items for each lead:
- the date and channel the lead gave consent
- the source, such as a portal form or an open house sign-in sheet
- the wording of the consent statement the lead saw
- every unsubscribe request with the date it was actioned
Example: the unsubscribe that arrived on a Tuesday
A lead replies with one word, stop, on a Tuesday. The agent logs it, but the automated nurture keeps sending because the tag went onto the wrong list. Two more emails leave that week, then a text. The lead forwards all three to the CRTC. The brokerage then has to prove consent for each send, and the log shows the request came before the second one. That single gap turns a routine complaint into a finding.
What happens if you do not
The CRTC can issue a notice of violation to the sender, and enforcement decisions are published with the business named. You then have to produce three years of consent records, and a memory of a phone call is not evidence. The penalty scale rises with the number of messages and the seriousness of the breach. The same gaps that draw a complaint also cost deals, and Realtor Lead Conversion Mistakes lists the ones that keep repeating.
Where the rules differ by province
Quebec adds a layer. Its private sector privacy law, updated in recent years, expects a named person responsible for personal information. Language rules in the province also shape commercial messages sent into it, and federal law does not override them. Alberta and British Columbia have their own private sector privacy statutes.
Boards, listing systems and provincial statutes all differ. A general overview of real estate in Canada is a reasonable starting map before you rewrite a national sequence.
Common questions
Does a portal form create express consent? Usually not. A form that asks for a call about one property creates implied consent for six months. Express consent needs wording that says the person agrees to receive messages.
How fast must an unsubscribe be honoured? Within 10 business days, and it has to work without a login. A line asking the reader to reply with the word stop, where nobody monitors the replies, is not a mechanism.
Do texts count as commercial electronic messages? Yes. A text to a Canadian number is in scope, and the identification and unsubscribe rules apply. Financing is often why the lead is waiting, and the federal consumer agency's mortgage guidance covers what that person is working through.
Can I email a past client years later? Implied consent from a completed transaction runs two years from the last deal. After that you need express consent or a fresh inquiry. What to expect from an old list is a separate question, covered in Good Realtor Lead Conversion Rate.
