Do Not Call Canada List

Today is the first day of Canada's Do Not Call List. I tried several times during lunch hour to register and each time I was told "The service is not available. Please try again later." Frankly, I am not surprised. I am sure like many other Canadians, the amount of "Spam" calls is out of control. Everyday, I come home to at least 2-3 calls on my answering machine. And not normal human calls. They are automated and unsolicited 5 minute messages selling/offering products, that I have no need or want for. It drives me batty. I can't wait to register my phone number. Even though the list excludes several groups including political parties and newspapers, the majority of my calls are not from them. Most of the calls I get are from "questionable" companies who somehow thought I would care to do a survey or buy some useless product or service from them. Once I register, I will make sure after 30 days notice period, I am vigilant in reporting violations. In case you are interested in more about the "do not call" list in Canada, here are the basics:

Your registration is valid for a three (3) year period and becomes effective thirty-one (31) days after you register. You will not be notified when your three (3) year registration period expires. If you want your registration to continue without interruption, you should re-register your number(s) before the registration period expires.

Registering on the National DNCL will not eliminate all telemarketing calls as there are some exemptions, including calls for or on behalf of:

• Canadian registered charities;
• Organizations that you have done business with in the past eighteen (18) months, or to whom you have made an inquiry in the past six (6) months;
• Political parties, candidates, and associations of members of a political party;
• Persons collecting information for a survey of members of the public;
• Newspapers of general circulation for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions;
• Persons or entities to whom you have provided express consent to be called; or
• Calls to businesses.

You may further reduce unwanted telemarketing calls by directly and expressly making a request to any of the above organizations (except for market research firms that collect information for a survey) to place your number(s) on their specific do not call list.

If you rceive a call from a group not listed above, 31 days after reigstering, you can file a complaint here.

***Update***
I am now on the do-not call list!