Is AI calling legal in Canada?
Yes, for the calls it's built for. Calls you ask it to make about your own affairs, to businesses or to people who gave you their number or agreed to be called, with no selling.
Canada's telemarketing rules are about calls that sell or ask for money, and the Canadian terms rule those out. Your simp says it's an AI at the start of every call and never calls without your say-so, given call by call or in advance.
LiamOutgoing - AI numberGood morning, how can I help?
Hi, this is Liam, an AI calling from Simp for Alex. This call is transcribed.
What Canadian rules say, in general.
Each rule below is a general summary of an official source. None of it is legal advice, and the rules can change.
Telemarketing
Canada's telemarketing rules and the National Do Not Call List are about calls made to sell or promote a product or service, or to ask for money.
It can't sell, promote, ask for donations or make telemarketing calls, or call numbers from a list.
From the Canadian terms, clause 19
Being open about AI
Canada's privacy commissioners expect a public-facing generative AI tool to make sure people know they're dealing with one. That is guidance, not a statute.
At the start of every call it says its persona's name, that it's an AI, who it's calling for by your first name, and that the call is transcribed.
From the Canadian terms, clause 13
Intercepting a call
Under the Criminal Code, intercepting a private call is an offence unless someone on it agreed: the person speaking, or the person they meant to reach.
Calls aren't recorded as audio. They're transcribed as they happen, and every call says so at the start.
From the Canadian terms, clause 14
Personal information
PIPEDA sets ten principles, consent among them, for businesses that collect, use or disclose personal information in commercial activity.
It only shares what you've allowed, detail by detail, and you can change that at any time in the app. You can mark any detail as sensitive, and your simp asks you every time before using it.
From the Canadian terms, clause 15
Does my simp say it's an AI?
Every call opens with your persona's name, that it's an AI, who it's calling for by your first name, and that the call is transcribed. It never claims to be you.
Simp sets this by the rules of the country the call is made in, and in Canada every simp works this way.
- Proactive
- It says it's an AI at the start of every call, and that the call is transcribed.
From the Canadian terms, clause 13
It says it's an AI at the start of every call.Ask if it's an AI and it says yes.LiamThe introductionGood morning, how can I help?
Hi, this is Liam, an AI calling from Simp for Alex. This call is transcribed.
Are calls recorded?
Not as audio. Here is what happens instead.
Transcribed, not recorded
Calls are transcribed as they happen, so you can follow them and get a summary. If you take over, your side is transcribed too.
Live, not saved
You can listen while a call is happening. The audio is processed live and isn't stored.
Told at the start
Every call opens by saying it's an AI and that the call is transcribed.
Your transcript and notes stay in your app for 30 days. A copy with your details taken out is kept for up to 12 months to improve Simp only while you have Help improve Simp turned on in the app, and it starts off.
From the Canadian terms, clause 14
Can it call anyone, any time?
No. It never calls without your say-so, given call by call or in advance as rules you set for your AI apps.
A call an AI app you connect asks for waits for your approval, unless it fits your say-so given in advance on a plan with autonomous mode.
From the Canadian terms, clause 12
- It never calls without your say-soA call waits for your go-ahead, or follows your say-so given in advance, as rules you set for your AI apps, on a plan with autonomous mode.
- Repeating calls are approved onceWhen you set the series up.
- Always from a Simp numberNever from your own number, and it never disguises where the call comes from.
- Not a bulk diallerIt only rings numbers you approve. It can't work through a list or dial in bulk.
- Calling hoursYour simp only calls between 9am and 9:30pm on weekdays, and between 10am and 6pm on weekends, in the time zone of the person or business it's calling. Calls to a toll-free number follow these hours in your own time zone.
What will it say about me?
Only what you've allowed. Apart from your first name, which it gives on every call, you decide what your simp may share, what it has to ask you about first, and what it never gives out.
It never gives out your passwords, PINs or security answers.
From the Canadian terms, clause 15
What your simp is allowed to do- First name
- Surname
- Account number
- Callback number
- Date of birth
- Card details
- Home address
- Passport number
What if they won't talk to an AI?
That's their right. The person or business it calls can decline to talk to an AI, and that's fine. Your simp doesn't argue or try to talk them round.
It ends the call politely and tells you in the call summary, so you can pick it up yourself.
From the Canadian terms, clause 4
They say noThey'd rather not speak to an AI.
Your simp ends the callPolitely, without pushing.
You hear about itIt's in the call summary, so you can call them yourself.
Questions about AI calling and the law.
Can someone use Simp to make scam calls?
Not without breaking the terms and leaving a trail. Every call needs the account holder's say-so, given call by call or in advance, goes out on that account's AI number, and opens by saying it's an AI. Telemarketing, calling from a list and hiding who is calling are against the terms, and Simp can refuse or end a call that breaks them.
Does the person I'm calling have to agree to speak to an AI?
Canada's telemarketing rules are about calls that sell, promote or ask for money, and the Canadian terms rule those calls out. The terms also ask you to have your simp call only businesses and organizations, or people who gave you their number or agreed to be called. Whoever answers hears at the start that it's an AI, and can decline to talk to it.
Are calls recorded?
Not as audio. Calls are transcribed as they happen, and your simp says so at the start of every call. You see the transcript and summary in the app for 30 days.
Who hears the call?
You, if you choose to listen live, and the person on the other end. Your persona is the only AI on the line.
Can my simp pay for things?
Card details are only given out on a call you approved first.
Is this the same in the UK and the US?
Not quite. In the US a simp also says it's an AI at the start of every call. In the UK it says so whenever anyone asks. Each country has its own page and its own terms.
Let your simp make the call.
Every plan comes with an AI number of your own, and a simp to answer it.
This page explains how Simp works and what official sources say in general terms. It isn't legal advice.