How is marketing a law firm in Canada different from the US?

Claims must be provable

Ontario and Alberta require marketing to be "demonstrably true, accurate and verifiable." BC bans anything "unverifiable." A US-style "trusted", "top-rated" or "proven" line needs evidence behind it in Canada, or it goes.

Specialist is a reserved word

Ontario reserves "specialist" for lawyers the Law Society has certified. BC doesn't allow it at all. Alberta's commentary says calling yourself a specialist or expert without recognition is misleading.

Ontario adds website duties

Every piece of marketing must identify the person as a licensed lawyer (4.2-1.1), dollar results need a set disclaimer, and a lawyer who markets contingency fees must publish a maximum percentage on the website.

Paying for referrals

Referral fees between lawyers are allowed, capped in Ontario and uncapped in BC and Alberta, but rewards to non-lawyers for referrals are banned. Our guide on whether law firms can pay for leads covers vendor pricing.

The practical effect: a lot of US law firm marketing doesn't survive the trip north. When we audit a Canadian firm's site, the first pass is usually deleting superlatives, "specialist" and unqualified dollar results that came with a US template.

• "Lawyer" in every ad, page and profile. In Ontario, a paralegal's marketing says "licensed paralegal" and never implies a lawyer.
• No US "Attorney Advertising" footer. When we build a landing page for a Canadian firm, that label and the US copyright statute reference come out, and the address carries the province and postal code.
• Practice names spelled the way the firm spells them, such as "Criminal Defence" or "Family Law Services," on the firm's own pages.
• Fees with taxes addressed. Ontario and Alberta both ask fee ads to say whether disbursements and taxes are extra, so HST or GST belongs in the sentence.
• Jurisdictions named precisely. BC's ethics advisory says "qualified in the United States" misleads when the license is for one state.

On Ontario client sites, results also carry the Law Society's own past-results sentence, written as the commentary words it, next to the number. We check copy against each firm's own law society before anything goes live, and the lawyer approves it.

How long implied consent lasts

The CRTC lists an inquiry or application within the six months before the message, and a purchase or a written contract within two years. A lead who asked about a divorce in March and never retained the firm falls outside that window by October.

What every message needs

Identification of the sender and a working unsubscribe. The CRTC says an unsubscribe request must be honored within 10 business days, whatever kind of consent you had.

Proof

The burden of proving consent is on the sender. The CRTC suggests recording the address, the date and how consent was given. The CRM should store exactly that on the contact.

Recording calls

The Privacy Commissioner's guidance for businesses under PIPEDA is to tell callers a call is recorded, say why, and get consent. Our call tracking guide covers the Criminal Code side and the wording.

When we set up follow-up for a Canadian firm, the consent wording sits on the form, the date and source of each inquiry go into the CRM, and long nurture sequences ask for express consent before the six months run out. The follow-up sequences guide has the day-by-day sequence, and our systems work builds it.

More on how immigration clients search and choose on our immigration marketing page.