Before you automate texting, three things to get right.
None of this is complicated. All of it is easier to handle before you start than after a carrier begins silently dropping your messages.
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice, and the rules do change — verify anything here against current CRTC guidance and your provider's documentation before you rely on it.
1. Consent: replying is not the same as broadcasting
Canada's anti-spam legislation governs commercial electronic messages, including texts. The important distinction for a contractor is between replying to someone who just contacted you and messaging a list of people who didn't.
Someone who dials your business number has made an inquiry, and that inquiry is the basis for a reply about the thing they inquired about. Texting your past customers a spring promotion is a different act with different requirements. Treat them as separate questions and you'll stay on the right side of it.
Practically: identify your business in the message, keep the content relevant to why they contacted you, honour opt-outs immediately, and keep a record of how the consent arose. That last one is the part everybody skips and the only one that matters if someone complains.
2. Carrier registration: the invisible failure mode
Canadian and US carriers filter automated traffic sent from ordinary ten-digit numbers. The failure is silent — your messages don't bounce, they just quietly never arrive, and you carry on believing the system works.
Registration requirements depend on where your number came from and where you're texting. Numbers provisioned for Canada-to-Canada messaging after March 2025 generally need brand and campaign registration or an equivalent verification, and anything sent to a US number requires US A2P 10DLC registration regardless of where your business is. Both take paperwork and a wait.
If you're building this yourself, budget for it. If we set it up for you, it's handled as part of the install and it's the main reason setup isn't instant.
3. Opt-out handling
Every automated message stream needs a working, obvious way out, and STOP needs to actually stop things — including any other sequence that person is in. Handling it in one system and not the other is the mistake that generates complaints.
You also want a public page describing what you send and how to stop it. Providers frequently ask to see one during registration, so it does double duty. Ours is here.
What we handle
Registration and the paperwork behind it, consent and opt-out wording written into every sequence, STOP handling across both engines, and the record-keeping. It's unglamorous and it's most of the reason a done-for-you install exists.
Find out what you're leaving on the table.
A 15-minute call. We look at your call volume and your average job together, and you'll know before we hang up whether the math works for your shop.
Or call the system yourself at 343-503-5515 and see what it does.