Brandings to billboards: The basics of Canadian advertising law

From branding a product, putting on its packaging, until how a product looks in grocery shelves or even billboards—Canadian advertising law has a lot of say about how things must be done. But aside from regulating what companies can do, it allows consumers to complain about these companies’ ads. 

Here, we’ll discuss the different advertising laws in the country, not only the federal regulations, but also the provincial or territorial laws. Whether you’re a consumer or a product company, this article is for you. 

What is advertising law? 

Advertising law is the body of laws that governs how advertising is conducted by companies or how these ads are delivered to consumers. These laws: 

• protect consumers from false and misleading advertising, deceptive claims, or misrepresentations  
• impose liabilities on violators, whether it be by a court or a regulatory body 

As consumers, advertising law may be used as a legal basis to sue companies when they are harmed due to the products they bought because of false ads or misleading claims. This is also where advertising lawyers often come into play. 

For producers, manufacturers, sellers, or advertising companies, advertising law is their guide for compliance and to prevent them from incurring any liability. A good Canadian advertising lawyer can also help them before their ads even see air. 

Here’s an overview of how Canadian advertising law works: 

To learn more about the different advertising laws of Canada, you can reach out to the best advertising and marketing lawyers in Canada as ranked by Lexpert. 

What is Canadian advertising law? 

Advertising laws in Canada are made up of many different laws, since there is no single law that only covers advertising. This means that there are other Canadian laws about other topics that are related to advertising and, collectively, make up Canadian advertising laws. 

Below are some of the federal laws that are related to advertising and marketing: 

• The Competition Act 
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) 
• Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) 
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)  

These are in addition to provincial laws that govern advertising and marketing, and which may have similar provisions with these federal laws. A recent trend in Canadian advertising law is the regulation of digital advertising because of the growing use of ads through online platforms. 

The Competition Act  

Generally, the Competition Act is a law about maintaining healthy, industrial competition among businesses in Canada. It also protects small and medium enterprises by providing them with equal opportunity to participate in the market.  

To achieve this goal, the Act prohibits various acts or unfair practices among large or small businesses. Among these prohibited acts are:   

• false or misleading advertising 
• deceptive marketing practices 
• false and misleading representations 

These prohibitions under the Act may either be a civil liability or a criminal offense, or both. Violators may either be charged with administrative or civil fines or be filed with a criminal charge depending on the determination of the Competition Bureau. That is why, as businesses, it is important to check with a Canadian advertising and marketing lawyer to prevent any civil or criminal liability.  

The provisions of the Competition Act do not only apply to “offline” advertising and marketing but also when these are done online or through other technology. Advertisers or marketers outside Canada that conduct online marketing in Canada are also liable under the Act. 

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)  

A recent development in Canadian advertising law is the enactment of the CASL. It even amended certain provisions of the Competition Act, the PIPEDA, and other laws.  

The CASL regulates the use of commercial electronic messages, so that their use would not be abused by marketers and advertisers. As a result, advertisers or marketing agencies cannot send commercial electronic messages without the explicit or direct consent of a consumer or the receiver.  

A consumer or receiver must also be able to easily unsubscribe from these commercial electronic messages. When doing so, they should not be charged for any cost supposedly incurred when receiving these commercial electronic messages.  

In addition, commercial electronic messages must be in the prescribed format. One example is that they must show the information regarding their sender. 

Learn more about the CASL with this video: 

Looking for lawyers to help you with any of these Canadian advertising laws? Check out our directory of Canada’s Largest Firms, which can be filtered according to province. 

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)  

When private companies collect the personal information of consumers, these are protected by the PIPEDA. This Canadian advertising law regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information about an identifiable individual. 

Cookie consent, which we always see when entering a website, is an extension or application of PIPEDA’s provisions: 

In relation to advertising, PIPEDA requires companies to acquire substantial consent from consumers in collecting, using, and disclosing their personal information. This is true especially when the information is used for targeted marketing purposes. 

Targeted marketing is part of digital advertising used by advertisers or marketing agencies. It personalizes ads for individuals based on the information collected about them. An example would be an ad on other kinds of smartphones after searching for a specific smartphone in a search engine. This has recently been regulated because of the rising concerns about the invasion of privacy with regards to digital marketing. 

Provincial and territorial advertising laws 

Aside from the federal advertising laws, there are several Canadian advertising laws that were enacted at the provincial and territorial levels. Below are just some of the activities that provincial and territorial governments regulate, as for advertising and marketing: 

Advertising of government activities 

Most provinces have laws that regulate how government bodies should advertise their programs, new laws, or policies. This may include the requirement of administrative reviews, consideration of the public funds needed to advertise, regulation of partisan advertising, and ensuring that it’s within the public interest to do advertising.  

An example of these laws is Ontario’s Government Advertising Act (GAA). Under this law, it’s required, among others, that: 

• there should be a preliminary review of advertisements by the Office of the Auditor General before it’s released to the public 
• the advertisement has a statement that it’s paid for by the Government of Ontario, and must be non-partisan 

Advertising of alcohol, cigarettes, gambling etc. 

Provinces and territories have either published guidelines or enacted laws that regulate the advertising of specific products and services to the public. Although not illegal per se, policies recognize that it would be best for these to be advertised at a minimum or specify the ways that it can be advertised. 

For instance, British Columbia’s Advertising and Marketing Standards for Gambling under the Gaming Control Act (GCA) provides the following rules when advertising gambling activities: 

• must not be immoral nor obscene, such as depicting undue exploitation of sex, crime, horror, cruelty, and violence 
• must contain a responsible gambling message 
• must reflect the demographic targeted by the ad 

In addition, the Standards also state that gambling ads must not:  

• encourage people to play beyond their means 
• imply the certainty of rewards or alleviation of problems 
• present gambling as an alternative to employment 
• use minors or persons who appear to be minors 
• appear in media directed primarily to minors 
• be based on themes or use language that are appealing to minors 

Consumer protection laws 

While there’s the CPSA, which is the federal consumer protection law, the provinces and territories also have their own versions of this law. Part of these laws is the regulation of advertising and marketing because that is where the very protection of consumers starts with. 

By way of example, one of Québec's advertising laws is the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which restricts the advertising of credit cards in a certain way: 

• an ad for an open credit contract must include all the terms and conditions 
• an ad that references to a credit rate must indicate the specific rate 
• when a credit-related rate is indicated in an ad, the credit rate must be disclosed 

Who regulates ads in Canada?  

Under the different Canadian advertising laws, there are various government agencies which regulate ads in Canada:   

• Competition Bureau: implements the Competition Act, reviews the civil liabilities under the Competition Act, and files criminal charges against violators 

• Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC): implements the PIPEDA, along with the federal Privacy Act 

• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC): administers the CASL and may also receive reports against spam texts or emails 

As such, advertisers and marketing agencies must be in close coordination with these agencies—either directly or through their lawyers—since they may have separate regulations in implementing the laws assigned to them. 

What is the advertising code of ethics Canada?  

The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards is the applicable code of ethics for the conduct of advertising and marketing in Canada. This Code is implemented by the Advertising Standards Canada (Ad Standards), a national not-for-profit advertising organization. Complaints against ads may also be filed with Ad Standards, especially for violations of the Code. 

The Code applies to all ads, whether they are made by a private or public body. However, the Code will not apply to:  

• political advertising 
• election advertising 
• foreign media 
• packaging, wrappers, and labels of products 

While not really a Canadian advertising law, it complementarily works with all other statutes to regulate the ads released by private companies. 

What is Canada's legal regulation for emails and advertising?  

Canadian advertising law, specifically the CASL, regulates the use of technology (such as emails and social media interactions) for advertisements and marketing purposes. The CASL prohibits flooding consumers with unconsented spam messages, which may include texts, emails, and software, in promoting or advertising a product or service. 

A spam text, email, or software may be either of the following:  

• when a program is installed in your smartphone or computer without your consent after clicking or accessing the spam message or spam email 

• when false or misleading electronic representations are sent through your email or through any electronic or digital means 

• when your personal information is collected by accessing a computer system or electronic device without your consent 

How can false advertising be reported in Canada? 

There are many ways to report false or misleading advertising or any other violation to Canadian advertising laws: 

• if an ad violates the Code of Advertising Standards: a consumer can complain directly to the Ad Standards if an ad violates the Code, by submitting the complaint through their online complaint submission form 

• if an ad violates the Competition Act: a consumer can submit a complaint with the Competition Bureau for misleading advertising or unfair or deceptive business practices; the bureau also uses an online complaint form 

• if an ad is a violation of a provincial law: a complaint may be submitted by a consumer to the provincial or territorial consumer protection agency (e.g. Consumer Protection Ontario) 

• if you receive a spam message or spam email: a report may be filed with the CRTC, indicating the sender and the message of the spam  

It is also proper to check with an advertising and marketing lawyer on the most appropriate legal remedy against a violation of a Canadian advertising law. This is because aside from filing a complaint with these offices, filing a case in court may be another recourse that you can take. However, your case must be first evaluated by a lawyer to check whether your court action can prosper or not. 

Canadian advertising law: both for consumers and companies 

Canadian advertising law is a collection of federal, provincial, and territorial regulations to ensure fairness and protect consumers from misleading or deceptive practices. It governs various aspects of advertising, from digital marketing and spam to the collection of personal data.  

To add, the law provides avenues for both consumers and businesses to seek legal recourse. Whether you’re a consumer wanting to hold companies accountable or a business who wants to comply with advertising regulations, understanding these laws is a brand that an advertising and marketing lawyer can help you with. 

More resources about Canadian advertising law and other articles about Canada’s laws are found in our Legal FAQs page.