What's CASL and how does it affect my Magento email marketing?

CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) is one of the world’s strictest anti-spam laws, far tougher than US CAN-SPAM. It applies to commercial electronic messages (CEMs) sent to Canadian recipients.

Key requirements for a Magento store:

• Express opt-in, no pre-checked checkboxes, no implied consent. The user must actively tick "Yes, send me marketing emails"
• Identification, every CEM must include the sender’s legal name, mailing address, phone or website
• Unsubscribe, one-click unsubscribe that processes within 10 business days, no login required
• Records, keep proof of consent for 3 years (date, IP, source, e.g. checkout opt-in, newsletter form, registration)

For Magento we wire (a) checkout-page newsletter checkbox unchecked by default, (b) double opt-in via Mailchimp / Klaviyo / Mautic, (c) consent log in customer record, (d) one-click unsubscribe link in every transactional + marketing email. CASL fines run up to $10M per violation, so this is non-optional.