The regulations from Industry Canada for Canada’s anti-spam legislation were released yesterday after length consultations. Most of the Act will come into force in July 2014.

The regulations (available from fightspam.gc.ca) are under An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act known as Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Regulations were previously released by the CRTC as the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations (CRTC).

Some of the more contentious aspects of the legislation and rules relate to the opt-in requirements and the available exceptions available to those sending commercial emails.

The regulations have received significant commentary and coverage including from the Globe and Mail, Barry Sookman, Michael Geist, Stikemans, and the National Post.

[Update Dec 18, 2013: The regulations and coming-into-force regulations have now been published in the Canada Gazette.]