Canada's telemarketing rules: the DNCL and calling hours

Canada’s telemarketing rules come from the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. Calls to business numbers are exempt from the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), but not from the Telemarketing Rules: you still register with the DNCL operator, call only 9:00 AM–9:30 PM on weekdays and 10:00 AM–6:00 PM on weekends in the contact’s time, identify yourself, and keep your own do-not-call list.

The 3 parts of Canada’s rules

The Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules define telemarketing as unsolicited calls made to sell or promote a product or service. They split into 3 sets of rules, and only one of them has a B2B exemption. As of October 2026:

Part	What it covers	Applies to calls to businesses?
II. National DNCL Rules	No telemarketing calls to numbers on the National DNCL without express consent; subscribing to the list	No: these rules “do not apply to a telemarketing telecommunication made to a business consumer”
III. Telemarketing Rules	Registration with the DNCL operator, calling hours, identification, caller ID, internal do-not-call lists, dialing limits	Yes: they apply whether or not a call is exempt from the National DNCL Rules
IV. ADAD Rules	Calls that play a prerecorded or synthesized voice message	Yes: they apply whether or not a call is exempt from the National DNCL Rules

The DNCL operator’s consumer FAQ says the same in plain words: the National DNCL is only for personal telephone numbers, B2B calls are exempt from the National DNCL Rules, and the Telemarketing Rules apply to calls made to personal and business numbers.

The B2B exemption and the other exemptions

A call to a business consumer does not need a National DNCL check. The exemption covers calls to businesses, not every call made by a business, so the type of number you call matters. If your lists mix company lines with personal numbers, such as a contact’s personal mobile, decide with your counsel how to treat them, and scrub those numbers against the list.

The operator’s exemptions page lists the other calls that the National DNCL Rules do not cover:

• Canadian registered charities;
• political parties, riding associations and candidates;
• people or organizations collecting information for a survey;
• newspapers of general circulation selling subscriptions;
• calls to a person with an existing business relationship: someone who bought, leased or rented from you in the last 18 months, or asked about or applied for a product or service in the last 6 months, and who has not asked you to stop calling.

An exempt call is only exempt from the National DNCL Rules. The Telemarketing Rules and the ADAD Rules still apply to it.

Registering with the National DNCL operator

Registration and subscription are 2 different steps, and B2B teams often skip the first one.

1. Register. The operator’s organization FAQ says every organization on whose behalf telemarketing is done must register, and adds: “Even if the calls you make directly, or that are made on your behalf are exempted, you must still register.” A telemarketer calling for a client may not call unless that client has registered and paid the applicable fees. Keep proof of registration and payment for 3 years.
2. Subscribe, for non-exempt calls. Organizations whose calls are not exempt must also subscribe to the list, by download for chosen area codes or by query, and pay the published fees. The rules bar calls to numbers that have been on the National DNCL for more than 31 days, so a downloaded copy must never be more than 31 days old while you are calling.

A team that calls only business numbers usually needs step 1 and not step 2. A team that also calls personal numbers needs both.

Calling hours and the other call rules

These Telemarketing Rules apply to B2B calls too. As of October 2026:

Rule	What it requires
Calling hours	9:00 AM–9:30 PM Monday to Friday and 10:00 AM–6:00 PM Saturday and Sunday, in the time of the person called. Stricter provincial hours apply to some activities.
Identification	When the call reaches the intended person: the caller’s name, the telemarketer’s name and, when calling for a client, the client’s name. On request: a local or toll-free number and a name with an email or postal address for questions and do-not-call requests.
Callback number	Answered by a person or by voicemail that says calls are returned within 3 business days, and returned within 3 business days. Contact details stay valid for at least 60 days after the call.
Caller ID	Display the originating number, or another number where the telemarketer can be reached.
Internal do-not-call list	Process a request during the call, add it within 14 days, and keep it for 3 years and 14 days. Never call a number that is, or should be, on the list.
Sequential dialing	Prohibited.
Predictive dialers	An abandoned call is one with no live telemarketer within 2 seconds. The abandonment rate may not exceed 5% in any calendar month, and monthly records are kept for 3 years.
Prerecorded or synthesized voice (ADAD)	Telemarketing this way needs the person’s express consent, even for exempt callers.

Calling hours follow the contact’s clock, not the rep’s: a call at 9:15 AM in Toronto reaches Vancouver at 6:15 AM. Our guide to legal calling hours by country compares Canada’s window with the US, UK, Australia, and India.

The ADAD Rules cover equipment that conveys a prerecorded or synthesized voice message. If you plan to use AI voice agents for Canadian contacts, check with your counsel whether the rules apply, and read our guide to AI voice agent consent rules.

A checklist for B2B teams calling Canada

1. Register your organization with the National DNCL operator before the first call, and keep the proof for 3 years.
2. Tag every number in your CRM as business or personal. Subscribe and scrub personal numbers against a copy of the list that is no more than 31 days old, unless another exemption applies.
3. Set the calling window per contact from the time zone of their number, not your office.
4. Script the identification: the rep’s name, your company and, for agencies, the client.
5. Keep one internal do-not-call list across every campaign and rep, and add requests on the same day.
6. If you dial in parallel, measure abandoned calls per calendar month and keep the monthly records. See how a parallel dialer works for why this number rises with lines per rep.
7. Keep evidence of express consent before any prerecorded or synthesized voice call.

The rules are under review

The CRTC opened a review of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules in 2026. In its July 2026 submission, the Canadian Marketing Association asked the CRTC, among other things, to extend the existing business relationship window from 18 to 24 months and to cut call record retention from 3 years to 24 months. As of 15 Oct 2026, we found no published decision, so the rules above are the ones in force. Check the CRTC’s site before you change a process.

How DialSavvy handles this

DialSavvy runs compliance checks before every call: calling hours in the contact’s time zone and your do-not-call list. Rules come from versioned rule packs by country, and a missing or expired pack stops dialing to that country. In parallel mode, the abandonment governor drops to 2 lines from 2.5% abandoned calls and to 1 line from 2.8%. Checks against national registries are coming for the US, UK and Australia; for Canada, scrub personal numbers against the National DNCL yourself. See DialSavvy compliance and country coverage for the modes available in Canada.

Before your next Canadian campaign, confirm your DNCL registration, split your list into business and personal numbers, and set each contact’s calling window from their time zone.