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Telemarketing under the Competition Act

The law requires that all of the following facts be disclosed by the telemarketers to each person or business called at appropriate times during the telephone call.

At the beginning of each call the telemarketer must disclose:

• the name of the company or person the caller is working for
• the type of product or business interest he or she is promoting
• the purpose of the call

During each call they must also disclose:

• the price of any product or service being promoted
• any restrictions or conditions that must be met before the product is delivered

In addition, the law forbids telemarketers to:

• make any representation that is false or misleading in a material respect
• conduct a contest, lottery or other game where delivery of the prize is conditional on payment in advance, or where the approximate value of the prizes and other facts that affect the chances of winning are not fairly disclosed
• offer a free gift or a product at minimal cost as an inducement to buy a second product (this is acceptable if they disclose the approximate value of the gift or premium)
• require payment in advance where the price of the product upon delivery is found to be grossly in excess of the fair market value of that product

Responsibility and liability

Under the Competition Act, the law foresees imprisonment and/or fines, for administrators and/or their employees, found guilty of illegal telemarketing activities.

These parties could also be liable to charges of fraud under the Criminal Code of Canada.

If you discover a problem or have a doubt, contact one of the following groups:

• your school's student services office
• Phonebustersat 1 888 495-8501 (National call centre)
• COLTCentre of Operations Linked to Telemarketing Fraud at (514) 939-8304