CASL real estate rules for the AI that texts and calls your leads

In short: CASL real estate rules come down to one question per contact: what consent does the brokerage hold, and on what date does it run out. An inquiry gives implied consent for six months, a purchase or a written representation agreement gives two years, a referral buys exactly one message, and an unsubscribe has to take effect within 10 business days. A reply that answers the question a lead asked needs no consent at all. Calls sit under separate CRTC rules, where an AI that dials leads may count as an automatic dialing-announcing device needing express consent first, a question the CRTC opened in June 2026 and had not answered by September 23.

Key takeaways

• Answering what a lead asked is outside CASL's section 6 under s.3(b) of the Industry Canada regulations. The follow-up sequence after it is not.
• Every automated promotional text or email carries the brokerage's name, a mailing address, one more contact route and a working unsubscribe (SOR/2012-36 s.2). In a text, those can sit behind a link.
• A message asking for consent is itself a commercial electronic message (CASL s.1(3)), so nobody can text a bought list to ask permission.
• The brokerage has to prove consent (s.13) and is liable for what its agents send within their authority (s.32).
• An inbound call is the cleanest place to collect express consent: the CRTC accepts oral consent backed by a complete and unedited recording (Bulletin 2012-548, para 23).

On September 16 we asked ChatGPT for "AI lead follow up for a real estate brokerage in Ontario". Unprompted, it searched "CASL commercial electronic messages consent real estate leads Canada", then RECO's advertising rules. None of the four sites it read was the statute. This is the answer we would want it to find, read off the primary sources on September 23, 2026.

Three sets of rules, and which one applies

Texts, email and DMs are electronic messages under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. One is commercial if a purpose is to encourage a commercial activity, including an offer to sell or lease land, so nearly every brokerage follow-up qualifies. Section 6 requires consent, identification and an unsubscribe.

Calls mostly fall outside CASL: section 6(8) excludes "an interactive two-way voice communication between individuals" and "a voice recording sent to a telephone account." A live AI agent is neither, and the Act does not say where it lands. What clearly applies is the CRTC's Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

What the message says is RECO's territory under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, whoever or whatever typed it.

What a brokerage may automate, lead by lead

"Standard" below means the brokerage's name, a mailing address, one more contact route and an unsubscribe, set out clearly and prominently (SOR/2012-36 ss.2 and 3), with the brokerage's registered name if the message promotes anything (O. Reg. 567/05 s.12.1). The call column treats an AI caller as an automatic dialing-announcing device (ADAD), the open question covered below.

| Lead situation | Text or email: consent and how long | What it must carry | Automated phone call |

|---|---|---|---|

| Inquiry through the brokerage's own website form | The reply needs no consent (SOR/2013-221 s.3(b)). Follow-ups ride implied consent for six months from the inquiry (s.10(10)(e)). Longer needs an opt-in box the lead ticks (Bulletin 2012-549). | Reply: nothing under CASL. Follow-ups: standard. | A callback the lead asked for, at the number they gave. Anything else needs express consent to automated calls. |

| Portal lead where the buyer contacted the agent | Six months from the inquiry, if it was made to you: a lead a third party collected and resold carries no relationship with you under s.10(10). | Standard. | As for the website form. |

| Past client who bought or sold with the brokerage | Two years from the purchase of the brokerage's services, or while the written representation agreement runs and two years after it expires (s.10(10)(a) and (d)). Then express consent only. | Standard. | A person may call for 18 months after the purchase or agreement expiry, even if the number is on the National Do Not Call List (Telecommunications Act s.41.7(2)). An automated call still needs express consent, list or no list. |

| Open house sign-in sheet | Depends on the sheet. An opt-in line meeting SOR/2012-36 s.4 gives express consent with no expiry. Without one, the best argument is an inquiry, six months, and the brokerage has to prove it. | Standard. | As for the website form. |

| Referral from a client | One message, if the client has a relationship with both the brokerage and the person referred (SOR/2013-221 s.4(1)). A reply opens an inquiry window; silence ends it. | Standard, plus the referrer's full name and a line saying the message follows their referral. | A person may call only if the number is off the National DNCL. No automated call. |

| Purchased or scraped list | No. Consent does not transfer with a sold list, the sender must prove consent on a list someone else built (CRTC guidance), and asking for consent is itself a commercial message. | Not applicable. | Human calls only after a National DNCL scrub no older than 31 days (Rules Part II s.13). No automated call. |

| Cooperating agent's number on a listing | Implied by conspicuous publication, if the listing carries no statement refusing messages and the message is relevant to their role (s.10(9)(b)). A message that is solely an inquiry about their listing is outside section 6 (s.6(5)(b)). | Standard, unless it is purely an inquiry. | Do Not Call List rules exclude business consumers (Part II s.2). An automated showing request is still an ADAD call, with set hours, an opening identification message and a 10 second disconnect (Part IV s.4). |

Two details settle most hard cases. Express consent lasts until withdrawn, and the CRTC's guidance says the only way to ask for it by email is while implied consent still covers the message. And an unsubscribe counts however it arrives, including a text saying stop, and takes effect within 10 business days (s.11(3)); the CRTC's example for texts offers both a STOP reply and a link.

When the AI makes the call

The CRTC's rules define an ADAD as equipment that stores or produces numbers and conveys "a pre-recorded or synthesized voice message." Telemarketing through one needs the consumer's express consent to automated calls from you, tied to the specific number (Part IV ss.2 and 3). Whether a conversational AI is one is unsettled: on June 11, 2026, Notice of Consultation 2026-132 asked exactly that (question 2), and whether callers using artificial voice technologies should have to say at the start that no live person is calling (question 10). Replies closed August 11 with no decision yet, so any outbound AI calling we would scope is designed as an ADAD call.

The other telemarketing rules cover any solicitation call. Calls run 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekends, recipient's time (Part III s.23). The caller gives the calling individual's name and the brokerage's (s.16), a rule written for people; an outbound agent we build would say it is an automated assistant for the brokerage. A do-not-call request is processed during the call (s.10), added to the brokerage's own list within 14 days and kept three years and 14 days (ss.8 to 13).

An inbound call runs the other way. The caller dialled, so the unsolicited call rules are not engaged, and it is a good moment to ask about texting. The spoken request has to carry what SOR/2012-36 s.4 lists: purpose, the brokerage's name, its mailing address and a contact route, and that consent can be withdrawn. The voice agents we build keep the recording with each call record, and a complete, unedited recording is what turns "yes, text me" into consent a brokerage can prove.

What RECO's rules add

Nothing in TRESA or its regulations mentions AI, and none of RECO's bulletins, 1.1 to 8.2 when we read the index, covers AI or automated messaging.

Bulletin 5.1 treats any promotional representation to the public, in any medium, as advertising. An agent may not advertise unless the brokerage is clearly and prominently identified by its registered name (O. Reg. 567/05 s.12.1(3)), and TRESA s.37 bars false, misleading or deceptive statements in material "published by any means."

The Code of Ethics adds two rules that matter here. Section 5 requires best efforts that representations are accurate and not misleading. We read that as covering who is speaking: an assistant that lets a buyer believe a salesperson is typing misrepresents the conversation. The reading is ours; RECO has published nothing on it. Section 14 routes information for a trade to someone known to be another registrant's client through that registrant, unless they consent in writing, which is where a drip still texting a lead who signed elsewhere goes wrong.

What stays human

Any representation about a property or a price stays with a registrant: whether the yard is fenced, what the seller might take, how an offer compares. TRESA's definition of trading includes "any act, advertisement, conduct or negotiation" in furtherance of a deal, and only registrants trade (s.4). The system captures the question and routes it.

So do disclosure conversations. A conflict needs disclosure, advice to get independent advice and written consent (Code s.13), and a self-represented party gets prescribed information before any assistance (O. Reg. 567/05 s.13.1).

The same goes for anything after an unsubscribe or a do-not-call request. Automation stops, and a person decides whether a message is still owed because it only facilitates a deal the recipient already agreed to, which s.6(6)(b) exempts from consent but not from identification. The wider split is on our real estate page.

Setting up Follow Up Boss so consent has a date

A consent basis missing from the CRM cannot be proved. Follow Up Boss offers four custom field types, Date, Text, Number and Dropdown. Only the account owner can create them, and a field's type cannot be changed later:

1. Consent basis (dropdown): express written, express oral recorded, inquiry, purchase, representation agreement, referral, published.
2. Consent date (date): the inquiry, purchase, agreement expiry or opt-in.
3. Consent expires (date): six months after an inquiry, two years after a purchase or agreement expiry, blank for express. Computed by the integration, never typed.
4. Consent evidence (text): form URL and timestamp, or the call recording ID.
5. Unsubscribed on and Do not call on (dates), checked before any action plan sends.
6. Represented elsewhere (dropdown), for Code s.14.
7. A Smart List of consents expiring in the next 30 days, so a person asks for express consent while asking is still allowed.

The help centre says custom fields cannot be mass edited, so backfilling existing contacts is an API job. The rest is on our Follow Up Boss automation page, in the Follow Up Boss build guide, and under AI lead intake for brokerages.

What we checked

We read the Act and both CASL regulations as consolidated to September 3, 2026, the CRTC's guidance, bulletins, calling rules and Notice 2026-132, the Telecommunications Act, and TRESA with O. Reg. 567/05 and O. Reg. 365/22 on e-Laws, current to late August 2026. Collecting lead details in commercial activity also brings in PIPEDA, whose s.7.1 removes the usual consent exceptions for addresses gathered by harvesting software.

This is an operator's reading, not legal advice. We run a live voice agent answering inbound calls on a Toronto brokerage's line, and no outbound calling or texting for it, so this is the rule set our builds are designed against. The method is the one we used on the September RTA changes.

Frequently asked questions

Can a realtor in Ontario text a lead without consent?

Yes, if the text answers the question the lead asked. Section 3(b) of the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations takes a message sent in response to an inquiry outside CASL's section 6. Follow-up beyond that needs implied consent, six months from the inquiry, or express consent, plus the brokerage's name, contact details and an unsubscribe.

How long does implied consent last for a real estate lead?

Six months from an inquiry, and two years from a purchase of the brokerage's services or from the expiry of a written representation agreement, under CASL s.10(10). Express consent lasts until the person withdraws it. Once implied consent lapses, even a message asking for express consent is one you cannot send.

Does CASL apply to phone calls from an AI agent?

CASL excludes live two-way voice between individuals and recorded voice messages, and an AI agent fits neither cleanly. The CRTC's calling rules apply instead. If an AI caller counts as an automatic dialing-announcing device, a solicitation call needs express consent to automated calls at that number. The CRTC asked that question in June 2026 and has not answered it.

Does RECO have rules on AI texting or calling leads?

We found no RECO bulletin on AI or automated messaging. The general rules apply: the brokerage's registered name appears clearly in advertising, statements must not mislead, and information for a trade reaches another registrant's client only through that registrant.

What are the penalties for breaking CASL?

Section 20(4) sets the maximum at "$1,000,000 in the case of an individual, and $10,000,000 in the case of any other person" for each violation. Officers and directors who directed or acquiesced are liable under s.31, and a brokerage is liable for agents acting within their authority under s.32. Breaches of the calling rules run to $1,500 per violation for an individual and $15,000 for a corporation under Telecommunications Act s.72.01, each day counting separately.