Not legal advice. A plain-English overview. Read the FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide for the official word, and check state laws that may also apply.
The US takes a different approach from Canada. Under CAN-SPAM you don't need permission before you send a commercial email, including to businesses. What you do need is honesty and a way out. It applies to every commercial message, and B2B email is not exempt.
The core requirements
- Don't use false or misleading header information. Your "From," "Reply-To" and routing information must accurately identify you.
- Don't use deceptive subject lines. The subject has to reflect what's in the message. "Re: your invoice" on a first-touch sales email is a problem.
- Identify the message as an ad where that's required. A plain, honest sales note from a named person generally makes its nature clear.
- Include your valid physical postal address. A street address, a PO box or a registered private mailbox.
- Tell recipients how to opt out. Clear and easy — a reply-to-opt-out line works.
- Honour opt-outs promptly, within 10 business days. You can't charge a fee or make them do more than reply or visit one page, and you can't sell or transfer their address afterwards.
- You're responsible for what others send for you. Hiring an agency doesn't move the liability.
Penalties
Each separate email that breaks the law can bring a civil penalty of more than $50,000 (the figure is adjusted for inflation every year). That's per email, which is why bulk senders who ignore the rules get into serious trouble.
Practical setup for cold email
- Send from a real person's name at your real domain. Many teams use a separate sending domain to protect their main one, which is fine as long as it's honest about who you are.
- Write subject lines you'd be comfortable reading out loud to the recipient.
- Put your company name and mailing address at the bottom of every email.
- End with a simple line: "Not interested? Reply 'no thanks' and I won't email again." Then actually remove them, everywhere.
- Keep sending volume reasonable and warm up new domains. Deliverability isn't a legal requirement, but it decides whether anyone sees your email.
Emailing Canadian businesses from the US?
CASL applies when a message is sent to or accessed from a computer in Canada, regardless of where the sender is. If your list includes Canadian businesses, follow the stricter Canadian rules for those contacts — see our CASL guide.