Oil and gas
Invest in Canada ranks Canada the world's fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest gas producer; oil and gas are roughly 26% of total exports.[19]
- Shift and site-access notices
- Safety alerts to contractors
- Crew logistics
India
Toronto is 9 h 30 min behind India
WhatsApp Business API in Canada, where consent comes first
Canada's anti-spam law names instant messaging accounts alongside email and phone accounts, so a WhatsApp promotion needs consent the law recognises. Here is how to tell which kind you hold.
Toronto
- Marketing law
- CASL, main provisions in force 1 July 2014[1]
- Privacy law
- PIPEDA; own laws in Alberta, BC and Quebec[2]
- Official languages
- English and French[7]
- Time zones
- Six standard times, UTC-3:30 to UTC-8[8]
- Meta market
- North America (regional rate)
- US marketing restriction
- Covers US numbers, not Canadian ones[10]
For Indian businesses with customers in Canada, and Canadian companies looking at InfiQ: how CASL's consent rules reach WhatsApp, when implied consent from a purchase runs out, why Quebec needs French templates, and what messages cost at Meta's North America rate.
See it work
Express or implied: can this message go to a Canadian?
CASL turns on two questions: is the message commercial, and what kind of consent do you hold? Walk one WhatsApp message through them.
CASL defines an electronic address to include an instant messaging account as well as email and telephone accounts. That is why a WhatsApp promotion to a Canadian is read as a commercial electronic message under the Act.
The test is any commercial purpose, not the main one: an order update that also pushes a sale counts. Keep service updates free of offers and the consent question gets simpler.
Express consent is the sturdier basis. Implied consent from a purchase expires, and it does not on its own meet WhatsApp's opt-in rule.
CASL consent check for one WhatsApp message
Question 1 · up to 3
Does the message, or any part of it, encourage the person to buy, book or otherwise take part in a commercial activity?
Your answers
None yet — pick an answer to start down the tree.
Path map
Depth 0 of up to 3. Circles are questions, squares are outcomes.
All possible outcomes (4)
Outside CASL's definition of a commercial message
CASL's consent rule applies to commercial electronic messages. A delivery update with no promotional purpose is not one; add a discount code and it becomes one. WhatsApp's own policy still requires the person's opt-in.
Path: “No, it is purely an update they need”
Express consent: send, identified and with an unsubscribe
Each message must identify your business, give contact information and set out an unsubscribe mechanism. Unsubscribe requests must take effect within 10 business days; on InfiQ, STOP replies are enforced at platform level.
Path: “Yes, at least in part” → “Yes, and we kept the record”
Implied consent, with an expiry date
CASL can imply consent from a purchase in the two years before the message. Record the purchase date and stop relying on it when the period ends. WhatsApp's policy still asks for an opt-in to messages from you, so use the window to ask for express consent.
Path: “Yes, at least in part” → “No express consent” → “Yes, within two years”
No consent basis: do not send the promotion
Ask for express consent first, on your website, at checkout or in a conversation the customer starts. Penalties for a business can reach C$10 million per violation.
Path: “Yes, at least in part” → “No express consent” → “No, or longer ago”
Question 1: Does the message, or any part of it, encourage the person to buy, book or otherwise take part in a commercial activity? 2 options.
Compliance
CASL, PIPEDA and the Quebec layer
Two federal laws do most of the work, and Quebec adds its own. The Do Not Call List, often assumed to apply, is about calls.
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) prohibits sending a commercial electronic message without the recipient's express or implied consent, and its definition of an electronic address includes instant messaging accounts.[1]
Regulator: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (PIPEDA; the CRTC leads CASL enforcement)
Point 1
Any commercial purpose makes it a commercial message
A message is a commercial electronic message if its purpose, or one of its purposes, is to encourage participation in a commercial activity (s. 1(2)).[1]
Point 2
Identify yourself, and let people leave
Every commercial message must identify the sender, give contact information and set out an unsubscribe mechanism; unsubscribe requests must take effect within 10 business days (ss. 6(2) and 11).[1]
Point 3
Implied consent from a purchase lasts two years
An existing business relationship, such as a purchase in the two years before the message, can supply implied consent (s. 10(9) and (10)). Because it is time-limited, the purchase date belongs in your contact record.[1]
Point 4
Penalties are counted per violation
Administrative monetary penalties can reach C$1 million for an individual and C$10 million for any other person per violation (s. 20(4)). CASL's private right of action never came into force.[1]
Point 5
PIPEDA is still the federal privacy law
PIPEDA sets the ground rules for how private-sector organisations collect, use and disclose personal information in commercial activity. Its proposed replacement, Bill C-27, was still at committee when the parliamentary session ended on 6 January 2025, so it did not pass.[2],[3]
Point 6
Quebec: Law 25 and the French language
Quebec's Law 25 modernised its private-sector privacy law in stages from September 2022 and requires a privacy impact assessment before personal data is transferred outside Quebec. Under the Charter of the French Language, reformed in 2022, consumers have the right to be informed and served in French.[2],[4],[5]
Point 7
The Do Not Call List covers calls and faxes
The National Do Not Call List is about telemarketing calls and faxes; its site does not mention text or app messages, which are handled under CASL instead.[6]
Point 8
WhatsApp asks for an opt-in too
Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy requires the person's opt-in confirming they want messages from you, so implied consent under CASL does not on its own satisfy WhatsApp's rule.[24]
- A summary of public guidance from the sources cited, not legal advice.
Locate it
Six clocks between St. John's and Vancouver
Canada's clocks run from Newfoundland, three and a half hours behind UTC, to seven hours behind in British Columbia and Yukon.
Toronto and Montreal keep Eastern time, and time is set province by province: Saskatchewan stays on UTC-6 all year, as Alberta has since June 2026; Yukon keeps UTC-7, and British Columbia stays on UTC-7 all year from 1 November 2026. A national send scheduled for one moment reaches some Canadians at breakfast and others before dawn.
From India the gap is wide. During daylight saving, a message sent at 19:30 IST lands at 10:00 in Toronto and 07:00 in Vancouver. Segment by province and schedule each group for its own morning.
Drag or swipe to rotate. Use the arrow keys to rotate, plus and minus to zoom, and 0 to reset.
The market, briefly
A G7 economy with two official languages, close trade ties to the US and a habit of paying by Interac.
Canada's nominal GDP was about US$2.32 trillion in 2025 by the IMF's estimate, and it has been a G7 member since 1976.[11],[12]
Population was about 41.7 million in 2025, according to the World Bank.[13]
Canada was the second-largest US partner for goods trade in 2024, at US$762.1 billion, and exports of goods and services were about 31% of GDP in 2025.[14],[15]
In the 2021 Census, English was the first official language spoken by 75.5% of Canadians and French by 21.4%.[16]
Interac says 88% of Canadians have used Interac e-Transfer.[17]
Time is set by each province or territory: Saskatchewan stays on UTC-6 all year, and Yukon has stayed on UTC-7 since November 2020.[9]
DataReportal's Digital 2026 report for Canada publishes no WhatsApp usage figure, so plan from your own customers' data rather than a national share.[18]
English and French, approved separately
Meta has template codes for Canadian English and Canadian French. Each language version is its own template, with its own approval.
For a Quebec audience, French is not a courtesy. Build the French version of each template at the same time as the English one, store each contact's language, and route French conversations to agents who write it.
InfiQ's own support team works in English and Hindi. French copy and French-speaking agents come from your side.
| Language | Meta code | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| English (Canada) | en_CA | Most provinces; Canadian spellings and date formats |
| French (Canada) | fr_CA | Quebec and francophone customers elsewhere; expected where consumers have the right to be served in French |
Industries that message Canadians
Rankings below are Invest in Canada's own, the country's investment-promotion agency, and are attributed as such.
Mining and critical minerals
About 40% of the world's public mining companies list on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, by Invest in Canada's count.[20]
- Contractor coordination
- Site notices
- Supplier updates
Automotive
Canada's largest manufacturing export industry, with over 95% of vehicles built for export markets, according to Invest in Canada.[21]
- Service-appointment reminders
- Parts availability
- Dealer order status
Technology and AI
Six Canadian cities, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Waterloo and Calgary, rank among North America's top 20 tech markets, Invest in Canada says.[22]
- Onboarding and billing updates
- Support in English and French
- Incident notices
Agri-food
Among the world's top 10 agri-food exporters and a leading producer of canola and pulses, according to Invest in Canada.[23]
- Order confirmations to buyers
- Delivery updates
Prices in ₹ and CAD
What messages to Canada cost
Canadian numbers are priced at Meta's North America rate. On InfiQ a marketing message costs ₹2.20, utility ₹0.2989, authentication ₹0.2989 and a service reply ₹0.2989; plans start at ₹999 a month.
Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC
Lite
₹999 / month≈ $14.84 CAD
₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ $12.37 CAD
Growth
₹2,999 / month≈ $44.54 CAD
₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ $37.11 CAD
Enterprise
Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.
Per message to Canada · North America (regional rate)
| Category | ₹ INR | CAD |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹2.1976 | $0.0326 |
| Utility | ₹0.2989 | $0.0044 |
| Authentication | ₹0.2989 | $0.0044 |
| Service | ₹0.2989 | $0.0044 |
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and CAD
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | $0.0807₹5.4352 | $0.0340₹2.2874 | $0.0340₹2.2874 | $0.0340₹2.2874 |
| Bangladesh | $0.0956₹6.4397 | $0.0048₹0.3254 | $0.0048₹0.3254 | $0.0048₹0.3254 |
| Brazil | $0.0816₹5.4970 | $0.0089₹0.5981 | $0.0089₹0.5981 | $0.0089₹0.5981 |
| Chile | $0.116₹7.8162 | $0.0261₹1.7585 | $0.0261₹1.7585 | $0.0261₹1.7585 |
| Colombia | $0.0163₹1.0993 | $0.0010₹0.0706 | $0.0010₹0.0706 | $0.0010₹0.0706 |
| Egypt | $0.0841₹5.6629 | $0.0047₹0.3167 | $0.0047₹0.3167 | $0.0047₹0.3167 |
| France | $0.112₹7.5588 | $0.0392₹2.6393 | $0.0392₹2.6393 | $0.0392₹2.6393 |
| Germany | $0.178₹12.0088 | $0.0719₹4.8386 | $0.0719₹4.8386 | $0.0719₹4.8386 |
| Hong Kong | $0.0956₹6.4397 | $0.0340₹2.2867 | $0.0340₹2.2867 | $0.0340₹2.2867 |
| Hungary | $0.112₹7.5596 | $0.0456₹3.0700 | $0.0456₹3.0700 | $0.0456₹3.0700 |
| India | $0.0140₹0.9435 | $0.0029₹0.1941 | $0.0021₹0.1402 | $0.0022₹0.1450 |
| Indonesia | $0.0537₹3.6133 | $0.0326₹2.1979 | $0.0326₹2.1979 | $0.0326₹2.1979 |
| Iraq | $0.0445₹2.9992 | $0.0103₹0.6943 | $0.0103₹0.6943 | $0.0103₹0.6943 |
| Israel | $0.0461₹3.1045 | $0.0069₹0.4662 | $0.0069₹0.4662 | $0.0069₹0.4662 |
| Italy | $0.104₹6.9847 | $0.0392₹2.6369 | $0.0392₹2.6369 | $0.0392₹2.6369 |
| Kazakhstan | $0.0789₹5.3098 | $0.0235₹1.5824 | $0.0235₹1.5824 | $0.0235₹1.5824 |
| Kuwait | $0.103₹6.9671 | $0.0574₹3.8671 | $0.0574₹3.8671 | $0.0574₹3.8671 |
| Malaysia | $0.112₹7.5644 | $0.0183₹1.2314 | $0.0183₹1.2314 | $0.0183₹1.2314 |
| Mexico | $0.0518₹3.4877 | $0.0111₹0.7471 | $0.0111₹0.7471 | $0.0111₹0.7471 |
| Morocco | $0.0541₹3.6425 | $0.0300₹2.0218 | $0.0300₹2.0218 | $0.0300₹2.0218 |
| Netherlands | $0.209₹14.0494 | $0.0653₹4.3987 | $0.0653₹4.3987 | $0.0653₹4.3987 |
| Nepal | $0.0956₹6.4397 | $0.0044₹0.2990 | $0.0044₹0.2990 | $0.0044₹0.2990 |
| Nigeria | $0.0675₹4.5421 | $0.0088₹0.5898 | $0.0088₹0.5898 | $0.0088₹0.5898 |
| Oman | $0.0445₹2.9992 | $0.0322₹2.1709 | $0.0322₹2.1709 | $0.0322₹2.1709 |
| Pakistan | $0.0618₹4.1620 | $0.0196₹1.3200 | $0.0196₹1.3200 | $0.0196₹1.3200 |
| Peru | $0.0918₹6.1843 | $0.0392₹2.6392 | $0.0392₹2.6392 | $0.0392₹2.6392 |
| Poland | $0.0477₹3.2105 | $0.0159₹1.0702 | $0.0159₹1.0702 | $0.0159₹1.0702 |
| Qatar | $0.0445₹2.9992 | $0.0157₹1.0547 | $0.0157₹1.0547 | $0.0157₹1.0547 |
| Romania | $0.112₹7.5596 | $0.0378₹2.5436 | $0.0378₹2.5436 | $0.0378₹2.5436 |
| Russia | $0.105₹7.0520 | $0.0522₹3.5173 | $0.0522₹3.5173 | $0.0522₹3.5173 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0751₹5.0537 | $0.0140₹0.9401 | $0.0140₹0.9401 | $0.0140₹0.9401 |
| Singapore | $0.0956₹6.4397 | $0.0209₹1.4072 | $0.0209₹1.4072 | $0.0209₹1.4072 |
| South Africa | $0.0496₹3.3385 | $0.0124₹0.8369 | $0.0124₹0.8369 | $0.0124₹0.8369 |
| Spain | $0.0923₹6.2161 | $0.0261₹1.7578 | $0.0261₹1.7578 | $0.0261₹1.7578 |
| Sri Lanka | $0.0956₹6.4397 | $0.0026₹0.1759 | $0.0026₹0.1759 | $0.0026₹0.1759 |
| Turkey | $0.0142₹0.9587 | $0.0012₹0.0792 | $0.0012₹0.0792 | $0.0012₹0.0792 |
| Ukraine | $0.112₹7.5596 | $0.0388₹2.6138 | $0.0388₹2.6138 | $0.0388₹2.6138 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0751₹5.0537 | $0.0205₹1.3811 | $0.0205₹1.3811 | $0.0205₹1.3811 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0829₹5.5795 | $0.0287₹1.9346 | $0.0287₹1.9346 | $0.0287₹1.9346 |
| North America | $0.0326₹2.1976 | $0.0044₹0.2989 | $0.0044₹0.2989 | $0.0044₹0.2989 |
| Rest of Africa | $0.0294₹1.9796 | $0.0052₹0.3516 | $0.0052₹0.3516 | $0.0052₹0.3516 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | $0.110₹7.4057 | $0.0148₹0.9938 | $0.0148₹0.9938 | $0.0148₹0.9938 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | $0.112₹7.5596 | $0.0276₹1.8595 | $0.0276₹1.8595 | $0.0276₹1.8595 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0966₹6.5048 | $0.0148₹0.9934 | $0.0148₹0.9934 | $0.0148₹0.9934 |
| Rest of Middle East | $0.0512₹3.4490 | $0.0119₹0.7998 | $0.0119₹0.7998 | $0.0119₹0.7998 |
| Rest of Western Europe | $0.0773₹5.2054 | $0.0223₹1.5019 | $0.0223₹1.5019 | $0.0223₹1.5019 |
| Other | $0.0789₹5.3098 | $0.0101₹0.6769 | $0.0101₹0.6769 | $0.0101₹0.6769 |
Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. Meta's statement that WhatsApp does not currently deliver marketing templates applies to US phone numbers, so the marketing rate shown applies to Canadian +1 numbers. InfiQ invoices in rupees; the CAD figures are indicative conversions.
Rates for every Meta market, plus plans and add-ons, are on one page.
See all plans and ratesOn InfiQ
What a Canadian programme runs on
Consent records, two languages and careful timing, on one number.
- Consent records and opt-out enforcement
Express consent is only as good as its record: InfiQ stores each opt-in's source and time and enforces STOP replies at platform level, even against later imports.
- Template manager and library
Draft English and French versions of each template and track both through Meta's approval side by side.
- Broadcast campaigns
Segment by province or language and schedule each send for local daytime, from Newfoundland to British Columbia.
- Shared team inbox
One number for the whole country, with labels for French and English conversations and transfers to the right agent.
- Developer API and webhooks
Order events from your store trigger utility templates through the API, and signed webhooks report delivery status back.
- Customer data hosted in India
Customer data is processed in India. For a Quebec business, that transfer belongs in its privacy impact assessment.
Getting started
Getting started with Canadian customers
Indian businesses can start today. A business based in Canada starts with sales.
From India
Sort your consent
Split your Canadian contacts into express consent, purchases in the last two years, and neither. Only the first two can receive promotions, and only the first is durable.
From India
Build both languages
Submit English and French versions of each template together, and send French to Quebec customers unless they choose English.
From India
Go live
Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed. Once Meta business verification is complete, a number is live in about two hours.
Based in Canada
Talk to sales first
InfiQ serves India-based businesses. If your company is based in Canada, availability goes through sales.
Based in Canada
Weigh billing and data location
InfiQ bills in rupees and processes customer data in India; factor both into procurement and, in Quebec, into your privacy impact assessment.
Questions businesses ask about WhatsApp in Canada
Question: Is a WhatsApp promotion a commercial electronic message under CASL?
Answer: Generally, yes. CASL treats a message as commercial if encouraging a purchase is its purpose or one of its purposes, and its definition of an electronic address includes instant messaging accounts. A WhatsApp offer to a Canadian therefore needs express or implied consent, identification of your business and a working unsubscribe.
Question: How long does implied consent from a past purchase last for WhatsApp offers?
Answer: Two years from the purchase, under CASL's existing-business-relationship rule; after that you need express consent. Because WhatsApp's policy also asks for the person's opt-in to messages from you, the best use of the two-year window is to ask for express consent while it is open.
Question: Does Meta's restriction on marketing templates to US numbers affect Canadian +1 numbers?
Answer: No. Meta's documentation says WhatsApp does not currently deliver marketing templates to users with US phone numbers, meaning +1 numbers with a US area code. Canadian numbers share the +1 code but are not covered by that statement, so marketing templates to Canadians go out and are charged at the North America marketing rate.
Question: Do customers in Quebec need French WhatsApp templates?
Answer: Plan on it. Under the Charter of the French Language, Quebec consumers have the right to be informed and served in French. Meta accepts Canadian French templates under the code fr_CA, approved separately from the English version, so submit both together and route French replies to French-speaking agents.
Question: Does the National Do Not Call List apply to WhatsApp?
Answer: No. The National Do Not Call List covers telemarketing calls and faxes, and its site does not mention text or app messages. Commercial messages on WhatsApp are governed by CASL's consent, identification and unsubscribe rules instead.
Question: Can Canadian customers pay by Interac inside a WhatsApp chat?
Answer: Not through InfiQ, which does not offer in-chat payments. Teams send a payment link from their own checkout or payment provider in a utility template or a reply, and the customer pays there, by Interac or card where that provider supports it.
Question: Does processing Canadian customer data in India matter under Quebec's privacy law?
Answer: For a business in Quebec, it can. Law 25 requires a privacy impact assessment before personal data is transferred outside Quebec, and InfiQ processes customer data in data centres in India, as its subprocessor list shows. Build that into the assessment before you start.
Question: Can a business incorporated in Canada sign up with InfiQ?
Answer: Ask sales first. InfiQ serves India-based businesses and bills in rupees, so a company based in Canada should check availability before planning around it. Indian businesses with Canadian customers can start straight away with a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. InfiQ's rates come from its published rate card. Page updated 2026-10-20.
- [1]Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23 · Justice Laws Website (Government of Canada) · read 2026-10-20
- [2]Summary of privacy laws in Canada · Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [3]Bill C-27 (44th Parliament, 1st session) · Parliament of Canada (LEGISinfo) · read 2026-10-20
- [4]Canada Country Commercial Guide: Digital Economy (29 April 2026) · U.S. International Trade Administration · read 2026-10-20
- [5]Changes to the Charter of the French Language · Office québécois de la langue française · read 2026-10-20
- [6]National Do Not Call List (LNNTE-DNCL) · National Do Not Call List (CRTC) · read 2026-10-20
- [7]Official Languages Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.) · Justice Laws Website (Government of Canada) · read 2026-10-20
- [8]Interpretation Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-21, s. 35(1) 'standard time' · Justice Laws Website (Government of Canada) · read 2026-10-20
- [9]Time Zone Database 2026e, 'northamerica' file · IANA · read 2026-10-20
- [10]Per-user marketing template message limits · Meta for Developers · read 2026-10-20
- [11]World Economic Outlook database: GDP, current prices (NGDPD), Canada · International Monetary Fund · read 2026-10-20
- [12]Canada and the G7 · Global Affairs Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [13]World Development Indicators: population, total (SP.POP.TOTL), Canada · World Bank · read 2026-10-20
- [14]Top trading partners, December 2024 · U.S. Census Bureau · read 2026-10-20
- [15]World Development Indicators: exports of goods and services (NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS), Canada · World Bank · read 2026-10-20
- [16]The Daily, 17 August 2022: 2021 Census languages · Statistics Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [17]Company overview · Interac Corp. · read 2026-10-20
- [18]Digital 2026: Canada · DataReportal / Kepios · read 2026-10-20
- [19]Oil and gas · Invest in Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [20]Mining · Invest in Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [21]Automotive · Invest in Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [22]Technology · Invest in Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [23]Value added agriculture · Invest in Canada · read 2026-10-20
- [24]WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (updated 23 September 2026) · WhatsApp (Meta) · read 2026-10-20
Reach Canadian customers with consent you can show
Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, and set up English and French templates. Or talk to sales about a programme for customers in Canada.
