Advertising Law

Complying with Canadian advertising laws can be challenging for brands and agencies. Advertising in Canada is highly regulated. Some of the potential challenges include consistent enforcement by the Competition Bureau, CRTC and other enforcement agencies, increasing regulatory and enforcement focus on digital advertising (e.g., influencer marketing, online price claims and drip-pricing, online disclaimers and disclosures and Canada’s anti-spam legislation, CASL) and adapting advertising and marketing campaigns to new technology, platforms and social media.

We help clients practically navigate Canada’s advertising and marketing laws offering Canadian advertising law services in relation to print, online, new media, social media and e-mail and electronic marketing.

Canadian Advertising and Marketing Law Services

Our Canadian advertising and marketing law services include legal advice in relation to the general civil and criminal misleading advertising provisions of the Canada’s federal Competition Actcompetition law compliance programs, anti-spam law (CASL), Competition Bureau and other complaints and investigations, seeking Competition Bureau advisory opinions, Internet, new media and social media advertising and marketing, provincial consumer protection legislation, consumer packaging and labeling legislation, running contests/sweepstakes in Canada and sales and other promotions.

We also provide advice in relation to specific types of advertising and marketing issues, including performance claimstestimonials and endorsements, influencer marketing, disclaimers and online disclosures, native advertising and astroturfing, cannabis marketing and advertising and co-sponsor, influencer and list sharing agreements.

For more information about the specific advertising and marketing law services that we offer please see: Anti-Spam Law (CASL), Compliance, Internet & New Media and Promotional Contests.

Representative Work

Some representative examples of our Canadian advertising law work includes competition law compliance programs, CASL compliance programs, advertising and marketing law opinions and advice, advice for electronic and social media marketing, reviewing draft marketing for Canadian advertising law compliance, submissions to the Competition Bureau, filing Competition Bureau complaints, applications for Competition Bureau advisory opinions, contest/sweepstakes law advice, drafting contest law rules, forms and related agreements (e.g., co-sponsor, influencer and contest indemnity agreements), guidelines and checklists for advertising and marketing (e.g., to comply with CASL and the Competition Act), Lawyer Editor for Practical Law Canada Competition, including advertising and marketing law precedents and checklists, national competition law compliance course for organized real estate (Competition Law and REALTORS: What You Say and Do Matters), subject matter expert for a national online competition law compliance course for Canadian REALTORS and subject matter expert and author for the advertising law section of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College’s course Ethics in Clinical Practice and Advertising.

Canadian Advertising and Marketing
Legal Precedents

In addition to our legal services, we also offer a range of Canadian advertising and marketing related precedents, forms and checklists for Canadian contests/sweepstakes and to assist companies comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL). For more information, see: Canadian Contest Forms and Anti-Spam Law (CASL) Precedents/Forms.