In Canada, can students send emails to other students of same association?
<p>Under the Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL), can a student member of a student association send emails to the other students of that same association without express consent? Would it be considered a non-business relationship an therfore fall in the scope of implied consent and more specifically section 9(a)?</p>

<p>To provide a bit of background, lets assume the association is an incorporated non profit organization (but not a charity) and the student sending the email wants to advertise a fund raising event.</p>

<p>From <a href="http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/page-2.html#h-6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/page-2.html#</a>h-6 section 9(a) reads "<em>the person who sends the message, the person who causes it to be sent or the person who permits it to be sent has an existing business relationship or an existing non-business relationship with the person to whom it is sent</em>;" </p>

<p>Thus it does not actually matter whether it's a business or non-business relationship, rather whether it's an existing relationship or not.</p>

<p>The details of the type of association etc might be relevant, but in general there would be a relationship between the parties as they are both members of the same association.   (The act does not appear to define the meaning of the word relationship, but THE LAW DICTIONARY defines a <a href="http://thelawdictionary.org/relationship/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">relationship</a> as "A particular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other." - which would seem to fit the criteria described.</p>

<p>Also, there is a FAQ on the Canadian legislation website which confirms you can rely on complied consent -  See "<a href="http://fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/00304.html#q1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What is implied consent</a>" - <strong><em>"The person is a member of your organization or has provided volunteer work, a donation or a gift"</em></strong></p>

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