Many small business owners are completely unaware of an important new Canadian law that influences e-mail marketing efforts for all businesses serving clients in Canada. Do you have any contacts on your mailing list that reside in Canada? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you must move quickly to ensure compliance.

The Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (C-28) is currently undergoing some final review and is expected to take effect toward the end of 2011 or early 2012. Unlike the CAN-SPAM act in the United States (one of the most unfortunately named laws ever), the Canadian law has strict opt-in requirements making it illegal to send commercial e-mail messages to Canadian citizens or companies without prior consent. As a business owner, you can get ahead of the curve by understanding this law and taking action to get explicit consent from your subscribers before the bill takes effect.