Canadian advertising & marketing law is becoming an increasingly dynamic and burgeoning field. Businesses traditionally rely on advertising and marketing to develop the public profile of their products, logos and brands. But despite the importance and costs associated with creating advertising and marketing campaigns, many small-to-medium sized businesses fail to ensure that their advertising materials comply with federal and provincial legislation, as well as industry-specific guidelines.

We provide a wide variety of clearance and contest drafting services to advertising agencies and small-to-medium sized businesses:

• Ensuring that advertising and marketing campaigns comply with the legislation and industry guidelines
• Obtaining clearances for advertising campaigns from Industry Canada, Advertising Standards Canada, the Canadian Advertising Standards Council, as well as many other governmental agencies
• Providing trade-mark searches to ensure that the proposed advertising materials do not infringe upon the trade-marks of third parties
• Proofing proposed packaging and labeling campaigns
• Commencing legal proceedings to stop misleading advertising
• Advising on consumer promotions, including contest rules and lotteries

What types of products are governed by statutorily imposed advertising requirements? If your business sells "prepackaged products", then ensuring that your advertising and packaging is in compliance with the provisions of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act is a must. Similarly, if you sell food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics, compliance with the Food and Drugs Act should be confirmed before commencing an advertising campaign and taking your product to the market.

Various federal and provincial statutes should be consulted when preparing advertising materials, including the Hazardous Products Act, the Textile Labelling Act, and the Charter of the French Language.

Are there guidelines that cover my industry? Probably. There are numerous industry guidelines that apply to the advertising and marketing of goods and services, including Health Canada's Consumer Drug Advertising Guidelines, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Guide to Food Labelling & Advertising, and Advertising Standards Canada's Advertising Code of Standards for Cosmetics. Also, there are also countless labeling requirements pertaining to the beer and liquor industries.