Canadians Prepare for DNC

Canada will begin implementation of its National Do Not Call (DNC) List tomorrow. Calls from market researchers, in addition to charities, political parties and newspapers selling subscriptions, are exempt.

Canadians will be able to sign up online at www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca for the list, introduced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Individuals calling numbers on the list face possible penalties of up to $1,500 per transgression, while companies can pay up to $15,000.

From the day individuals register, telemarketers have a 31 day 'grace' period during which they can still call. If individuals are customers of the telemarketers, the latter have another 18 months in which they can call, unless they are told to stop by the individual. Individuals must also re-register every three years, unlike in the USA where registration is permanent.

A poll of 1,000 people conducted by Acrobat Research Ltd for Canada's MRIA (Marketing Research and Intelligence Association) recently reported that nearly two thirds of Canadians dislike some or all telemarketing calls and - once aware of the register - plan to register for DNC. However, since only 51% were aware of it, it may take some time to fill up. Those made aware of the terms were on the whole confident that despite the exemptions it would have a positive effect - perhaps based on findings from the US where five years on from its introduction, surveys reveal the list to have worked well. A survey by Harris Interactive in October 2007 found that 72% of Americans had registered their telephone numbers for that country's no-call registry: 18% said they now received no telemarketing calls, and a further 59% that they still received some calls, but far fewer than before they went on the list.

More than 145 million phone numbers are listed on the US DNC list, and based on this the CRTC believes that within two years, 60% of the 27 million residential telephone numbers in Canada - around 16m - will be registered.

The Canadian rules differ from those in the US in a few respects: the requirement to re-register every threeyears; the grace period where callers have an existing business relationship with those called (6 months in Canada vs 3 months in the US); calling hours are different; and so are permissible predictive dialer abandonment rates.

More information is on the CRTC site at www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/dncl.htm .

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