Qualified Success for Canada's Do Not Call List

Canada's Do Not Call list (DNC) is for the most part working well, according to the latest VoxPop survey by the country's Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA). Eight in ten of those registering a number with the service say they now receive fewer telemarketing calls.

The service was launched on September 30 2008. Brendan Wycks, Executive Director of MRIA, said it was benefitting the great majority of registrants: 'Nationally, 50% of those who have registered report they now receive noticeably fewer or far fewer telemarketing calls; 20% cent say they now receive slightly fewer telemarketing calls; and 10% report receiving no telemarketing calls at all since signing on to the no-call list.'

Thirteen per cent however report an increased number of telemarketing calls since signing up, and Wycks says this reflects a significant increase in telemarketing using random dialers, which call regardless of the list, and that many of these come from outside Canada: 'The most likely reason for this surge in telemarketing activity is the deepening recession, which is causing U.S. telemarketers to look for new business by targeting Canadians. Unfortunately, many of these unscrupulous telemarketers don't care, or are oblivious to the fact that some of the people they are calling with their automated dialing systems are registered on Canada's National Do Not Call List.'

The survey found that awareness of the National DNCL among adult Canadians now stands at 84 per cent, and that 33% of adult Canadians have registered their residential land lines on the list, which contains about 6.2 million phone numbers.

In January, a report from the Consumers Council of Canada complained that the current system allowed unscrupulous telemarketers to access the list for a small fee and then add the numbers to their call database, and asked for more safeguards against this. There have also been calls for stricter follow-up and punishment of those breaching the ban.

The Vox Pop, part of a series, was conducted by Harris-Decima via telephone between January 29 and February 15, 2009, with a national random sample of 2,035 Canadians aged 18 years and over.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.