CASL, first touches, and why we do not blast lists

Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) is not a footer exercise. It is who may write, why, and how they stop. AERVIO’s own first touches are written by a person. The marketing systems we build for you are designed so you can say the same in an audit without sweating.

We are not your counsel. This is how we implement. The line is yours and your lawyer’s.

What we will not build

• Campaigns on a list you bought, rented, or scraped
• “Growth” sequences that hide the sender
• Unsubscribe that goes to a mailbox nobody opens
• Hidden fields that still say another agency’s name (we have seen this in templates; we rip it out)

If a tactic needs a grey list, it is not a growth system. It is a future CRTC file.

Identity in the message

Commercial electronic messages need a person or company the recipient can recognise, a way to contact you, and a working unsubscribe. Our defaults:

• From: a named mailbox on your domain (`hello@you`, not a noreply on a vendor)
• Body: Montreal / Canada NAP if you are us; your NAP if you are you
• Footer: physical or location statement you actually use, plus unsubscribe
• The CRM stores the consent or the implied-consent theory you chose — we do not invent one in a Zap

AERVIO’s own mail: hello@aervio.io, Montreal, QC, +1 438-498-3913. Privacy notes live on /privacy.

Forms are not a newsletter by accident

A contact form is a request for a conversation. It is not consent to a weekly digest. If you want a list:

• Say so, in the language of the page (Bill 96 matters here)
• Keep a field in the CRM
• Make the digest a separate message stream from transactional mail (invoices, password resets)

Law 25 still wants a data map: the ESP is a processor. We name it before we connect it.

First touches we will write

A human email after a form: three sentences, the offer they asked about, a booking path in ET hours. That is marketing. It is also how deals start in Montreal when buyers are tired of bots.

Sequences after express consent: useful, infrequent, from you. We measure unsubscribes and replies, not only opens (opens are a messy metric anyway).

How this ties to SEO

SEO/GEO brings people to a page. CASL governs what happens after. If your “content strategy” is a PDF magnet that dumps into a blast, we will argue you out of it. A quotable page plus a human reply beats a 14-step funnel you cannot defend.

Implementation slice

1. Inventory every ESP, form, and list
2. Kill the lists you cannot explain
3. Fix From names and footers
4. Wire unsubscribe to the CRM
5. Write the one transactional template and the one marketing template

Then you send. We do not hold the list hostage.

If you were handed a 40,000-row CSV “for campaigns,” do not import it. Write to us first. hello@aervio.io.

Existing business relationships are not a magic folder

People talk about “implied consent” as if a 2018 invoice blesses a 2026 blast. Even when counsel says a category is defensible, we still:

• Keep the message relevant to the relationship
• Identify AERVIO or you clearly
• Honour unsubscribe immediately
• Stop when the relationship is dead (they asked, they left, they bounced)

We would rather send fewer messages that a human would stand behind on a call.

Transactional vs commercial

Password resets, invoices, “your form arrived” are not the same as “here are five tips.” Mixing them in one template is how you train people to ignore invoices. Two streams. Two footers if needed. One CRM.

What we put in writing for you

A one-pager: ESPs, lists, what you claim the lawful basis is (your words), who can export, where unsubscribe writes back. If you cannot fill that page, you are not ready to automate. You are ready to delete.

Do not import the mystery CSV. That is the whole policy.

Questions

Do you run cold email for us?

No. We do not blast rented lists or run unsolicited bulk. We build the system you send from, with identity and unsubscribe, after you have a lawful basis your counsel accepts.

Can we email people who filled the contact form?

Usually that is a requested message about their enquiry, not a newsletter. If you want a list, say so on the form. We implement the copy and the field; we do not invent consent.

Where does unsubscribe live?

In the footer of commercial mail, working, tied to the CRM. A mailto that nobody reads is not unsubscribe.