An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act (S.C. 2010, c. 23)

Marginal note:Definitions

• 1 (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  commercial activity

  commercial activity means any particular transaction, act or conduct or any regular course of conduct that is of a commercial character, whether or not the person who carries it out does so in the expectation of profit, other than any transaction, act or conduct that is carried out for the purposes of law enforcement, public safety, the protection of Canada, the conduct of international affairs or the defence of Canada. (activité commerciale)

  Commission

  Commission means the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. (Conseil)

  Commissioner of Competition

  Commissioner of Competition means the Commissioner of Competition appointed under subsection 7(1) of the Competition Act. (commissaire de la concurrence)

  computer program

  computer program has the same meaning as in subsection 342.1(2) of the Criminal Code. (programme d’ordinateur)

  computer system

  computer system has the same meaning as in subsection 342.1(2) of the Criminal Code. (ordinateur)

  court of competent jurisdiction

  court of competent jurisdiction means the Federal Court or a superior court of a province. (tribunal compétent)

  data

  data means signs, signals, symbols or concepts that are being prepared or have been prepared in a form suitable for use in a computer system. (données)

  document

  document has the same meaning as in section 487.011 of the Criminal Code. (document)

  electronic address

  electronic address means an address used in connection with the transmission of an electronic message to

  • (a) an electronic mail account;

  • (b) an instant messaging account;

  • (c) a telephone account; or

  • (d) any similar account. (adresse électronique)

  electronic message

  electronic message means a message sent by any means of telecommunication, including a text, sound, voice or image message. (message électronique)

  person

  person means an individual, partnership, corporation, organization, association, trustee, administrator, executor, liquidator of a succession, receiver or legal representative. (personne)

  Privacy Commissioner

  Privacy Commissioner means the Privacy Commissioner appointed under section 53 of the Privacy Act. (Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée)

  telecommunications facility

  telecommunications facility means any facility, apparatus or other thing that is used for telecommunications or for any operation directly connected with telecommunications. (installation de télécommunication)

  telecommunications service

  telecommunications service means a service, or a feature of a service, that is provided by means of telecommunications facilities, whether the telecommunications service provider owns, leases or has any other interest in or right respecting the telecommunications facilities and any related equipment used to provide the service. (service de télécommunication)

  telecommunications service provider

  telecommunications service provider means a person who, independently or as part of a group or association, provides telecommunications services. (télécommunicateur)

  transmission data

  transmission data means data that

  • (a) relates to the telecommunications functions of dialling, routing, addressing or signalling;

  • (b) either is transmitted to identify, activate or configure an apparatus or device, including a computer program, in order to establish or maintain a communication, or is generated during the creation, transmission or reception of a communication and identifies or purports to identify the type, direction, date, time, duration, size, origin, destination or termination of the communication; and

  • (c) does not reveal the substance, meaning or purpose of the communication. (données de transmission)

• Marginal note:Meaning of commercial electronic message

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, a commercial electronic message is an electronic message that, having regard to the content of the message, the hyperlinks in the message to content on a website or other database, or the contact information contained in the message, it would be reasonable to conclude has as its purpose, or one of its purposes, to encourage participation in a commercial activity, including an electronic message that

  • (a) offers to purchase, sell, barter or lease a product, goods, a service, land or an interest or right in land;

  • (b) offers to provide a business, investment or gaming opportunity;

  • (c) advertises or promotes anything referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or

  • (d) promotes a person, including the public image of a person, as being a person who does anything referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (c), or who intends to do so.

• Marginal note:Other commercial electronic message

  (3) An electronic message that contains a request for consent to send a message described in subsection (2) is also considered to be a commercial electronic message.

• Marginal note:Exclusion

  (4) An electronic message described in subsection (2) or (3) that is sent for the purposes of law enforcement, public safety, the protection of Canada, the conduct of international affairs or the defence of Canada is not considered to be a commercial electronic message.

• Marginal note:Person to whom a message is sent

  (5) For the purposes of this Act, a reference to the person to whom an electronic message is sent means the holder of the account associated with the electronic address to which the message is sent, as well as any person who it is reasonable to believe is or might be authorized by the account holder to use the electronic address.