August 22, 2008

Subject:  Information on the National Do Not Call List

1.  Background:

The National Do Not Call List (DNCL), an initiative of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will launch on September 30, 2008.    The National Do Not Call List will be a nationwide registry to which individuals will be able to register in order to reduce the number of unsolicited telemarketing calls.

The following telemarketing calls are exempt from the National Do Not Call List rules:

a)  Calls made on behalf of
• charities,
• political parties,
• opinion polling firms or market research firms,
• newspapers calling for the selling of a subscription.

b)  Calls made to
• a consumer who has an existing business relationship with the organization, and
• business consumers.

The CRTC has determined that the existing business relationship exemption will only be extended to the broader corporate group, affiliates, or cooperative groups if the consumer has provided express consent to be contacted by way of telecommunications by such related organizations.

Organizations who wish to conduct telemarketing activities that are not exempt from the National Do Not Call List rules will be required to subscribe to the National Do Not Call List.

2.  Significance for credit unions

Credit unions who only wish to conduct telemarketing activities to existing members or to business consumers are not required to subscribe to the National Do Not Call List.

However, credit unions who wish to conduct telemarketing activities that are not exempt from the National Do Not Call List rules will be required to subscribe to the National Do Not Call List. 

The fee to subscribe to the National DNCL varies on the duration of the telemarketing campaign as well as the number of area codes that are targeted.  There is also a subscription option by telephone number. 

Telemarketers may register on and obtain subscriptions to the National DNCL at www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca.

3.  Advising credit union members

The CRTC encourages credit unions to advise their members of the launch of the National Do Not Call List.  The following information has been made available to assist them in this task: 

Documents available on the CRTC website in html or PDF format:
National Do Not Call List brochure – Consumers, English
National Do Not Call List brochure – Consumers, French
National Do Not Call List brochure – Telemarketers, English
National Do Not Call List brochure – Telemarketers, French
National Do Not Call List brochure – Exempt callers, English
National Do Not Call List brochure – Exempt callers, French
National Do Not Call List poster – 11x17, 18x28, 24x37

Access to internet site:
From now until September 29, 2008:   http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/dncl.htm
After September 30, 2008:   www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca

4.  Contact Person

Do not hesitate to contact Brigitte Goulard, Vice President, Policy, Credit Union Central of Canada, if you have any questions.  Ms. Goulard can be reached at brigitte@coopscanada.coop or at 613-238-6747 (ext. 300).