Guide
Recording sales calls in Canada, legally and plainly
Canada has a reputation as a one-party consent country, and for the criminal law that's right. But a business recording calls with customers and prospects is also collecting personal information, and privacy law treats that differently. This guide separates the two layers, explains what the federal Privacy Commissioner expects, notes where Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia have their own laws, and ends with a notice script you can adapt. It's general information as of November 7, 2026, not legal advice. Calling into the US brings state recording laws into play; our call recording laws tool lists them.
Is it legal to record a phone call in Canada?
Yes, if you're a party to the call: the Criminal Code allows a participant to record a call without the other person's consent. A business recording customer calls should still tell the person and say why, because privacy law expects it.
Recording a call you're not part of, without the consent of someone who is, is a different matter: that's an interception offense. So is a manager secretly recording calls between other people unless one of them has agreed, which is why recording settings should be clear to the team.
What does the Criminal Code say about recording calls?
Section 184 makes it an offense to knowingly intercept a private communication with a device, punishable by up to five years in prison, and section 184(2)(a) exempts anyone who has the express or implied consent of the person who made the communication or the person it was meant for.
That exemption is the one-party consent rule. A rep on a sales call is the intended recipient of what the prospect says, so the rep, or the business with the rep's consent, can record it without breaking the criminal law. It doesn't answer the privacy question, which is about what a business does with the personal information it collects.
Why does privacy law ask for more than one-party consent?
A recording of a customer's voice and what they say is personal information, and Canada's private-sector privacy laws require businesses to identify why they collect personal information and to get meaningful consent for it.
PIPEDA applies to private-sector organizations collecting personal information in the course of commercial activity across Canada, except where a province has a substantially similar law for activity inside that province: Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. PIPEDA still applies to federally regulated businesses everywhere and to information that crosses provincial or national borders.
What does the Privacy Commissioner say businesses should tell callers?
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner's guidance on recording customer calls says businesses must tell customers a call is being recorded, state the purpose clearly and narrowly, and give customers a real choice.
- Tell the person the call is recorded, at the start.
- Say why, as narrowly as possible. Don't call it 'quality assurance' if it will be used for marketing, profiling or authentication.
- Give a choice. If recording isn't essential to the service, offer an alternative, such as continuing unrecorded, email, a letter, an online form or an in-person visit.
- Remember access: customers can ask for a copy of their recording later.
- Keep recordings only as long as the purpose and any legal retention rules require.
Which provincial privacy laws apply in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia?
Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia each have a private-sector privacy law recognized as substantially similar to PIPEDA, which governs most collection of personal information inside the province instead of PIPEDA.
Quebec's is the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (CQLR c. P-39.1). Alberta's is the Personal Information Protection Act (SA 2003, c. P-6.5) and British Columbia's has the same name (SBC 2003, c. 63). All three expect organizations to tell people the purposes for collecting their information. The Alberta and BC acts allow consent to be implied in some cases where the purpose would be obvious, which is why a clear notice at the start of the call, followed by the person continuing, is the usual approach.
If you call across provinces, follow the strictest rule that applies to the person you're calling, and use the same notice on every call so reps don't have to choose.
What changed with Quebec's Law 25?
Law 25 (formerly Bill 64) modernized Quebec's private-sector privacy act in three stages, on September 22, 2022, September 22, 2023 and September 22, 2024, strengthening the duties of businesses that collect personal information.
For call recording, the practical effect is more emphasis on transparency and consent: telling people what you collect and why, using it only for that purpose, and being ready to show how you protect it and when you delete it. A Quebec business, or a business calling people in Quebec, should name a person responsible for protecting personal information and treat recordings as part of its privacy program, with a retention schedule.
- Say the call is recorded, and transcribed if it is, and why.
- Use recordings only for the purposes you stated.
- Restrict who can listen to them.
- Set a retention period, and delete recordings when it ends.
- Offer the notice in French to Quebec callers.
What notice script do businesses use for recorded calls?
Most businesses use one short line at the start of the call that says the call is recorded, why, and asks if that's OK, with an alternative ready if the person says no.
On outbound sales calls, the rep says it, because there's no menu message to do it for them. Keep it to one breath and put it right after your name and company:
- English: 'Hi, it's [name] from [company]. This call is recorded and transcribed for quality, training and to keep notes of our conversation. Is that OK with you?'
- French: « Bonjour, ici [prénom] de [entreprise]. Cet appel est enregistré et transcrit pour la qualité, la formation et pour garder des notes de notre conversation. Est-ce que ça vous convient? »
- If they say no: 'No problem, I'll stop the recording', or 'Happy to continue by email instead.'
- Voicemail: don't record what you can't announce. A live voicemail left by the rep isn't a recorded conversation with the customer.
- Inbound calls: the same line works when you answer.
What if you're calling people in the US?
US recording law is set state by state: most states allow one-party consent, but about a dozen, including California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington, require the consent of everyone on the call.
The notice line above covers both countries, because a person who hears the notice and stays on the call has agreed in most all-party states. Our call recording laws tool lists each state's rule.
How does call recording work in TopReach?
In TopReach, an admin chooses recording for the whole workspace: every call, no calls, or each user's choice. Recordings are saved to the contact, and managers can review them for coaching.
Calls made with the TopReach dialer are also transcribed live on both sides and summarized by AI when they end, in English, whether or not the audio is kept as a recording. Transcription and summaries are on by default and can be turned off for the workspace in the calling settings. Include transcription in your notice if you leave it on.
What TopReach doesn't do: it doesn't play an automatic recording notice on calls, and it doesn't decide your retention period. The rep's opening line and your retention policy are yours to set.
