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Don't Call Canadians for the next Three Years!

1-866-580-DNCL (3625)

Dial the national do not call registration number 1-866-580-DNCL (3625) and voila telemarketers will leave you alone right?

No. On December 4, The Toronto Tribune attempted to register a few of our telephone numbers using the number phone on the official Do Not Call List. Every single time we called the system couldn't read the number and hung up. Not one number we used was blocked.

Do Not Call List Online Access

There is a website that can be used to register numbers. We registered 2 numbers on December 4th. Being concerned we went back to the DNLC on December 19th and checked whether the numbers had been registered. One had one had not. We tried again.  Success!

Would most ordinary Canadians try five times with one number to get it registered or give up? Good question. We persevered but it shouldn't have taken five separate attempts using 2 different telephones, 2 different computers and 2 different days to register one normal personal (not private or blocked) number on the nation's DNCL.

Local calls are free in Canada, free being relative, Bell Canada isn't in the non-profit business neither are the other telephone service providers. The cost of local calls are covered in the monthly bill.

Cellular phone numbers were recently released to telemarketers in Canada. For those whose plans charge for incoming calls it's offensive that one pays to hear an advertisement.

Registering your residential, wireless, fax or VoIP telephone number on the National DNCL does not reduce all telemarketing calls. Anyone that has a previous business relationship of no more than 18-months ago with you may call: your telephone company, your bank, etc. Registered charities, political parties, and candidates are still allowed to call registered numbers for donations. Newspapers may also call you to sell subscriptions. Anyone who has inquired about a product or service in the last 6 months has essentially given that company leave to consider that they have established relationship with you and they are allowed to call you.

There is a way around this loop-hole for consumers you may ask to be put on the company's internal Do Not Call List to stop the calls. Political parties and politicians as always are exempt they can and will still call whenever they need something from Canadians: either money or a vote.

One other group is exempt from maintaining an internal DNCL that is organizations conducting market research, surveys, or public opinion polls.

The registration is good for three years after that time you'll have to call or register online again. Once registered it can take up to 31 days for the telemarketers to receive the list.