Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the members of the committee for inviting us to testify.
Imagine Canada is the national umbrella for registered charities and public benefit non-profits. Some 86,000 charities and a similar number of non-profits provide vital services and supports to individuals and communities across Canada. Before I get into our specific recommendations regarding CASL, I just want to set a bit of context.
In the aggregate, when you factor out hospitals, universities, and colleges, organizations generate more than half of their income from sources other than donations and government grants. Registered charities are strictly regulated by the Canada Revenue Agency. An organization can have charitable status only if it demonstrates that it is acting for the public good and that no undue private benefit results from its actions.
Public benefit non-profits include things like public housing corporations, community development corporations, and social service agencies. They deliver public benefits, and no part of their income or assets is available for private use. Finally, more than half of the organizations in our sector are operated completely by volunteers. These include board members, who serve their communities with no remuneration.
In preparation for this committee's review, we conducted a survey of charities and non-profits about their experiences since CASL was proclaimed. Among the key findings is that almost 70% of them send some kind of commercial electronic message, as defined in CASL. Upwards of 99% are compliant when it comes to identifying themselves, providing contact information, and providing unsubscribe options.
The definition of a commercial electronic message remains unclear to them. For example, around 40% of organizations sending messages to promote services for which a fee is charged believe that they are not sending CEMs. Almost half of the organizations have incurred compliance costs. More than 30% of those that do not send CEMs have also reported compliance costs, as they are unsure of the definition of a CEM. More than half of the organizations fear that the private right of action provisions of CASL would limit their ability to recruit volunteer board members.
We appreciate the efforts that the government and the department made in 2014 to provide comfort to charities through a limited exemption. However, conflicting views between those who drafted the exemption and the CRTC as the enforcement agency have led to increased confusion as to the charities' obligations under the law.
We believe the solution is to exempt registered charities from the consent provisions of CASL. This would be similar to the exemption they have always had under the do-not-call list.
We also believe it's time to distinguish between public benefit non-profits, such as public housing corporations, and those that exist for private purposes, such as golf clubs or condo corporations. CASL already does this to some extent for certain purposes, and precedent exists in other jurisdictions to make the distinction. With this distinction made, we recommend that public benefit non-profits also be exempt from the consent provisions.
We support maintaining CASL's requirements regarding sender identification, contact information, and unsubscribe mechanisms. Indeed, charities seeking accreditation under Imagine Canada's standards program have been required to meet these standards since prior to CASL.
Regardless of the consent provisions, we also recommend that charities and public benefit non-profits be protected from CASL's provisions regarding PRA, the private right of action. Where organizations have assets, these are held in trust for the public good; they should not be subject to private seizure. As noted above, board members are volunteers serving their communities. They should not be subject to personal liability, particularly when agencies of the federal government have not been able to agree on what the rules are. CASL's administrative penalties are more than sufficient to ensure that charities and non-profits adhere to their obligations, if and when those obligations are truly clarified.
Thank you. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.