ANTI-SPAM COMMITMENT

APEXA Inc., and each of its affiliates (“APEXA”), is committed to providing transparency to outside parties with respect to the compliance of the organization’s electronic communication with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, in effect as of July 1st, 2014, and its relevant rules and regulations (hereinafter “CASL”). To that end, the APEXA Anti-Spam Commitment is a formal statement of rights and obligations which is made available to outside parties. It is intended to inform outside parties of the type of responsible and transparent practices adopted by APEXA when electronically communicating with outside parties, to inform outside parties about who they may contact at APEXA for any concern pertaining to electronic communications, and to inform such outside parties of where and how they may unsubscribe to any electronic communications from APEXA. This document also includes a series of answers to questions about spam and APEXA’s practices that are frequently asked by outside parties that APEXA may communicate with.

1. APPLICATION AND SCOPE.

This Anti-Spam Commitment generally applies to any electronic communications sent by APEXA to outside parties and is protected by a range of business procedures, processes and policies to ensure that such communications are done in compliance with CASL. APEXA, in its electronic communications with outside parties, has to comply with the rules established by CASL and enforced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Competition Bureau and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. CASL regulates all commercial electronic messages (“CEM”), which are messages that include among their purposes, the encouragement of participation in a commercial activity.

2. WHAT IS APEXA DOING TO COMPLY WITH CASL?

APEXA has undertaken various initiatives in order to make sure that it is compliant with CASL. It has adopted this Anti-Spam Commitment to provide transparency to outside parties with respect to the compliance of the organization’s electronic communication practices with CASL, as well as undertaken the following initiatives:

APEXA has implemented CASL compliant consent forms

The consent of outside parties is necessary in order for APEXA to send a CEM. This consent typically must be “express”, but in certain circumstances consent can be “implied” and in others, messages are specifically exempt from consent requirements. APEXA has modified certain consent forms in order to ensure that the express consent obtained from recipients is in compliance with CASL.

Your communication preferences can be updated at any time by visiting the Preference Centre, which can be accessed at any time via our website, and you will be notified via email when changes have been made. You can have your email address removed from our mailing lists at any time, although even if you unsubscribe to receiving CEM from APEXA, you may still receive electronic messages from APEXA which relate to an ongoing business relationship or which are exempt under CASL.

APEXA has modified its email footers

APEXA has modified its email footers to manage CASL’s consent requirements. Under CASL, all CEM sent must include certain prescribed content. For example, APEXA must clearly identify itself as the party sending the CEM, provide a method whereby the recipient can readily contact APEXA, such as a mailing address and one of (i) a telephone number with active response voicemail; (ii) an email address; or (iii) a web address; and provide a working unsubscribe mechanism. CASL compliant email footers have been updated on all CEM sent from APEXA, in order to ensure compliance with CASL.

APEXA has incorporated Unsubscribe Mechanisms

APEXA has incorporated unsubscribe mechanisms into all CEM, in order to manage CASL’s consent requirements. Under CASL, each CEM must provide a working unsubscribe mechanism (functional for 60 days), which must be processed without delay, within a maximum of 10 business days. APEXA has set up a uniform process in order to ensure that all unsubscribe requests will be complied with. You may at any time unsubscribe from receiving CEM from APEXA by following the process laid out in the electronic message you receive, or contact: marketing@apexa.ca. However, even if you unsubscribe to receiving CEM from APEXA, you may still receive electronic messages from APEXA which relate to an ongoing business relationship or which are exempt under CASL.

3. WHY ARE YOU RECEIVING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE FROM APEXA?

The types of CEM APEXA may send from time to time could include the following:

• CEM sent to APEXA’s current or potential clients (whether individuals or businesses), by APEXA’s marketing department or APEXA’s sales and business development team. For example, this may be for prospecting purposes or in order to answer a request for information or an inquiry;
• CEM sent to APEXA’s current or potential service providers by various APEXA business units. For example, APEXA may outsource part of its activities to a third party (such as a maintenance company, a translation service provider, etc.) or, APEXA HR department may contact potential employees electronically for recruitment purposes.
• CEM sent to APEXA’s current or potential business partners. For example, this may be for building or finding new ventures and partnerships with industry companies, groups and associations.

If you have received a CEM from APEXA and you believe that you should not have, please assess as to whether you have provided implied or express consent to receive CEMs from APEXA, or if an exemption applies.

• Express Consent: You can verify that you have provided express consent to APEXA (or verify the status of your consent) by reviewing your preferences in the Preference Centre.
• Implied Consent: APEXA may infer your implied consent if:
• APEXA has an existing business relationship with you or has a former business relationship with you which terminated less than two years ago (for instance, you are a former client);
• APEXA received an inquiry from you within the last 6 months;
• You disclosed your electronic address to a APEXA employee (for example you provided your business card to a APEXA employee) or you conspicuously published your electronic address (for example, via a corporate website or in a brochure) and the CEM sent is in connection with your business role and function.

When is an electronic message exempt under CASL?

If you are receiving an electronic communications from APEXA, it may be a message that is exempt under CASL. This would be the case if the message is one the following:

• you have a personal relationship with the APEXA employee who contacted you, meaning that you have previously had a direct, voluntary, two-way communication;
• you have a family relationship with the APEXA employee who contacted you;
• the CEM is sent within APEXA (between employees of APEXA);
• the CEM is sent between APEXA and another business, where there is an ongoing relationship between APEXA and this other business;
• the CEM was sent by APEXA to you, in order to respond to your request or inquiry; or
• the CEM was sent by APEXA to you, in order to enforce a legal right or obligation (for instance, if you have an outstanding debt, or breached a contract that you have with APEXA, etc.).

In certain situations, your consent is not required for certain types of messages sent by APEXA, although you may still unsubscribe from future transmission of similar messages. The type of messages where APEXA does not need your consent is an electronic message that:

• is sent once, following a referral by a current APEXA client, service provider, business partner or employee who also has a personal or business relationship with you;
• only provides you with a request for a quote or an estimate;
• only facilitates or confirms a transaction;
• only provides APEXA warranty, product recall, safety or security information; or
• only provides information about your ongoing use of APEXA services or products or ongoing purchases (including updates and upgrades).

If you have received a CEM, and you believe that you should not have, please contact us immediately at marketing@apexa.ca and we will promptly remove your address from our list (within maximum 10 business days).

4. SOCIAL MEDIA.

You may be contacted by a APEXA employee via social media, such as LinkedIn, if you are connected on the social network with the APEXA employee, or if you have indicated through your preference settings the fact that you are open to receiving messages about new business opportunities or ventures. You may also be contacted if you have conspicuously published your electronic address (for instance, on a social media website), have not indicated that you did not wish to receive CEM, and the CEM sent is in connection with your business role and function.

5. WHAT TO DO IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECEIVE CEM FROM APEXA.

At APEXA, we take the law very seriously. You may unsubscribe at any time from receiving CEM, by visiting the Preference Centre or clicking on the link in any CEM that you may receive from APEXA, and we will remove you from our list within ten (10) business days.

6. AMENDMENT OF THIS ANTI-SPAM POLICY AND GUIDELINES.

From time to time, APEXA will review and update this Anti-Spam Commitment as required to keep current with rules and regulations, new technologies, standards, our business practices and outside parties’ concerns. We will post any Anti-Spam Commitment changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, as the case may be, email notification of Anti-Spam Commitment changes).

7. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THIS ANTI-SPAM COMMITMENT?

If you need further assistance, please contact us at: marketing@apexa.ca.

Revised June 16, 2021.