Cold calling is legal inside the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. An AI that dials and plays a synthesised message is an automatic dialing-announcing device, and those require prior express consent — which a stranger has not given you.
Key takeaways
Cold calling is legal in Canada inside the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. An AI that dials and plays a recorded or synthesised voice is not, in the general case, because that equipment is an automatic dialing-announcing device and the Rules require prior express consent from the person being called before an ADAD may be used for telemarketing. Express consent from a stranger is a contradiction in terms, which is why “AI cold calling” and “compliant” rarely survive in the same sentence.
What is available to you is narrower and still useful: AI that helps a human caller before, during and after the call. Here is where the line sits, in the regulator’s own words.
The Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules define an automatic dialing-announcing device as any automatic equipment incorporating the capability of storing or producing telecommunications numbers, used alone or with other equipment, to convey a pre-recorded or synthesized voice message to a telecommunications number. A synthesised voice reading a script is squarely inside that definition.
Part IV of the Rules then states that a telemarketer shall not initiate a telemarketing telecommunication via an ADAD unless express consent has been provided by the consumer to receive a telemarketing call via an ADAD from that telemarketer or its client. Express consent must clearly evidence the consumer’s authorisation and must include the specific telecommunications number to which the call may be made. The prohibition is drawn broadly enough to cover an ADAD call whose only purpose is to ask the consumer to hold until a live telemarketer is available.
There is a separate, narrower path for ADAD calls where there is no attempt to solicit — an appointment reminder to an existing client, for instance. Those are permitted subject to conditions: no calls to emergency lines or healthcare facilities; calling hours restricted to 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekends in the recipient’s local time; the call must begin with a clear message identifying the person on whose behalf it is made and briefly describing its purpose, including an email or postal address and a local or toll-free number for a representative; that identification message must be repeated at the end if the message runs beyond 60 seconds; the originating number must be displayed; sequential dialling is prohibited; and the equipment must disconnect within ten seconds of the recipient hanging up.
That is the shape of the permission. It is a reminder system, not a prospecting system.
A live cold call is legitimate. The obligations are specific and the CRTC publishes them in full.
Register and subscribe first. The CRTC’s guidance for the real estate industry states that registration and subscription to the National Do Not Call List is done at brokerage level, not parent company or agent level; that the brokerage must register and subscribe before any unsolicited calls are made and may then cover its agents; and that a parent company cannot subscribe on behalf of its brokerages. You can register and subscribe as an organisation directly.
Refresh the list every 31 days. The Rules require the version of the National DNCL used to have been obtained no more than 31 days before the call is made.
Keep an internal do-not-call list. A do-not-call request must be added within 14 days, and the name and number kept on the list for three years and 14 days from the date of the request.
Identify yourself on the call. On reaching the intended party you must clearly provide the name of the individual calling, the name of the telemarketer, and the name of the client where the call is made on someone else’s behalf. On request you must provide a local or toll-free voice number giving access to a representative, and a name with an email or postal address. That number must be answered by a live operator or by voicemail always capable of taking messages, the voicemail must say the call will be returned within three business days, and it must be.
Calling hours. 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, in the hours of the consumer receiving the call — and more restrictive provincial hours prevail where they exist.
Dialling technology. Sequential dialling is prohibited. Random dialling is permitted except to numbers on the National DNCL, emergency lines, healthcare facilities and your internal lists. A predictive dialing device must not exceed a five percent abandonment rate in any calendar month, where an abandoned call is one that, when answered, has no live telemarketer available within two seconds — and monthly abandonment records must be kept for three years.
The exemptions, and the one that matters to agents
The National DNCL rules do not apply to calls to a business consumer, or to calls by registered charities, political parties and candidates, surveys, or newspaper subscription solicitation — and not to a person with whom you have an existing business relationship who has not asked you to stop.
That relationship is defined in section 41.7 of the Telecommunications Act: a purchase, lease or rental within the preceding eighteen months, an inquiry or application within the preceding six months, or a written contract currently in existence or expired within the preceding eighteen months.
Note the mismatch. CASL’s email clock runs two years from a purchase; the calling clock runs eighteen months. A CRM segment built for one is wrong for the other.
Two sentences in the CRTC’s real estate guidance are worth pinning above the desk. The first: a person sharing their phone number on a website to sell their house does not constitute valid consent to receive calls from a real estate agent offering their services, and agents must still check whether that person is on the DNCL before calling. That disposes of the entire for-sale-by-owner prospecting premise unless the number is scrubbed.
The second concerns vendors. The brokerage is liable for the actions of its agents and any lead generators used by its agents, and agents are liable for the lead generators they hire. The CRTC adds that a lead generator offering to handle DNCL registration and subscription may itself be non-compliant, and that a contract term promising compliance is not enough — you can still be held responsible. Its general obligations page sets the penalty range at up to $1,500 per violation for an individual and up to $15,000 per violation for a corporation, with a violation counted per call.
Strip out the dialling and there is real value left. Preparing the call: a summary of everything you know about the contact, the last conversation, the properties they looked at. Handling the call: live note capture so you are not typing. After the call: a written summary, a task, a drafted follow-up email for you to review, and a stage change in the CRM. None of that is an ADAD, because no automated equipment is conveying a message to a telecommunications number.
BCFSA’s Artificial Intelligence Guideline adds the disclosure expectation that goes with any of this: communicate to clients and the public when AI tools are being used, explain their limitations, and specifically inform the client if an AI interface is standing in for you when you are unavailable. CREA’s AI guidance frames the same expectation nationally — consumers should clearly understand when AI is materially influencing communications.
An agent in Mississauga wants to prospect a neighbourhood of 400 homes ahead of a listing.
The compliant version: the brokerage is registered and subscribed to the DNCL for the relevant area codes; the 400 numbers are scrubbed against the National DNCL, the brokerage internal list and the agent’s own list, using a version of the DNCL downloaded within the last 31 days; the agent calls personally between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays, opens by naming themselves and the brokerage, and logs each outcome. AI prepares a one-paragraph brief per household from public and brokerage data, and writes the follow-up notes afterwards. Records are retained for three years.
The non-compliant version most vendors sell: an AI voice dials the same 400 numbers and delivers a synthesised message. That is an ADAD telemarketing call to people who have given no express consent, and every call is a separate potential violation.
No. The CRTC’s CASL FAQ states that CASL does not apply to unsolicited telecommunications, including live voice and automated telemarketing calls, which are regulated under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. Email and text are CASL; calls are the UTRs.
The Rules define a voice mail broadcast as a recorded message delivered directly into a voice mailbox without interrupting the recipient in real time, and Part III states that the Telemarketing Rules do not apply to a telemarketing telecommunication made via voice mail broadcast. That is a narrow carve-out from one part of the framework, not a general exemption, and the CRTC’s telemarketing pages are the place to check current interpretation before building a campaign on it.
Yes, and it is one of the better uses. Keep in mind that the CRTC requires accurate records of call scripts and call logs as part of a compliance programme, so the script you actually used is a record you should be able to produce.
The National DNCL rules do not apply where you have an existing business relationship and the person has not asked you to stop — but the Telemarketing Rules, including identification, calling hours and record-keeping, apply whether or not the call is exempt from the DNCL rules.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you whether AI pays for itself here.
