Key takeaways
- Under the Criminal Code, recording a call is generally lawful when one party to the call consents, such as a participant recording their own call.
- Privacy laws such as PIPEDA, and Alberta's and BC's own private-sector laws, add duties for businesses that record customer calls.
- A clear notice, a stated purpose, secure storage and sensible retention cover much of what dealers need to think about.
- This is general information, not legal advice: check your own practices with a lawyer.
Is it legal to record phone calls in Canada? Generally, yes, if you are a party to the call or one party consents. The Criminal Code makes intercepting a private communication an offence but allows it when the person who made or received the call consents. Businesses also have privacy law duties, which is why so many say calls "may be recorded".
That is the short answer, and it covers most everyday situations. For a car dealership, though, call recording comes up in several ways: call tracking on the sales line, recorded calls for quality review, and recorded mystery shops. Each one raises slightly different questions. This post walks through the basics in plain language.
Please read this as general information and not legal advice. Laws change and situations differ, so speak with your own lawyer about your dealership's practices.
The Criminal Code and one-party consent
Part VI of the Criminal Code deals with the interception of private communications. In broad terms, it makes it an offence to intercept a private communication, and then sets out exceptions. The one that matters most here allows interception where either the originator of the communication or the person intended to receive it has consented.
In practical terms, that means a person who takes part in a call can generally record it without telling the other side, as far as the Criminal Code is concerned. This is why Canada is often described as a "one-party consent" country.
What the Criminal Code does not allow is recording a call you are not part of, without the consent of anyone on it. Secretly recording two other people's conversation is a very different situation, and it is not something any dealership should do.
Privacy law: the second layer for businesses
The Criminal Code is only one piece. Businesses that record calls are collecting personal information, and privacy laws govern how they do that.
- PIPEDA, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, applies to private-sector organizations collecting personal information in the course of commercial activity, in provinces that do not have their own substantially similar law.
- Alberta and British Columbia each have their own Personal Information Protection Act for private-sector organizations.
- Quebec has its own private-sector privacy law. (Lock does not run French-language shops, but Quebec's law is worth knowing about for dealer groups that operate there.)
These laws share common ideas: be clear about what you collect and why, get appropriate consent, use the information only for the purposes you stated, keep it secure and do not keep it longer than you need. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has published guidance for businesses on recording customer calls, and it is worth reading if your store records its sales line.
Rules around employee personal information can differ by province and by sector, so if you plan to use recordings in staff reviews, that is a good topic to raise with your lawyer.
Is it legal to record phone calls in Canada at a dealership? Three common situations
1. Recording your own inbound sales calls
Many dealers use call tracking or a phone system that records calls to the sales line. Because the dealership is a party to the call, the Criminal Code question is usually straightforward. The privacy question is where the work is. That is why a short message at the start of the call, telling callers the call may be recorded and why, is so common.
2. Recording outbound calls to buyers
The same principles apply when a salesperson or BDC agent calls a buyer back. If your system records those calls, think about how the buyer learns about it, and make sure your stated purpose covers how you use the recordings.
3. Recorded mystery shops
In a mystery shop, the shopper calls your dealership as a buyer would and records the call. The shopper is a party to the call, so the one-party consent principle applies. The recording is then shared with the dealer, who is the client, for the purpose of reviewing the customer experience.
Privacy considerations still apply to how those recordings are stored and used. At Lock, every phone shop is recorded and delivered to the dealer along with the scorecard and a written breakdown. You can read how that works on our phone mystery shopping page.
A sensible call recording checklist for dealers
This checklist reflects common privacy principles. It is a starting point for a conversation with your lawyer, not a substitute for one.
- Notice: callers are told, at the start, that the call may be recorded.
- Purpose: you can say in one sentence why you record, such as quality review and customer service.
- Use: recordings are used only for that purpose.
- Access: only the people who need recordings can hear them.
- Security: recordings are stored securely, not in personal inboxes or on shared drives anyone can open.
- Retention: you have a set period for keeping recordings, and you delete them after it.
- Requests: you know who handles a customer's request to access their personal information.
- Staff awareness: your team knows calls are recorded and that the store uses mystery shopping.
Telling your team about recording and mystery shopping
Beyond the legal side, there is a people side. Your salespeople should not be surprised to learn their calls are recorded. Most dealers find it simplest to say so up front: calls to the sales line are recorded, and the store also uses a mystery shopping service on phones and internet leads.
Being open about it does not spoil the results. Salespeople will not know which calls are shops, and a well-built shop sounds like any other buyer. What openness does is build trust. Recordings become a normal part of how the store reviews its work, used in sales meetings and one-on-ones, rather than something that feels like surveillance.
Many managers also make a point of using recordings to recognize great calls. Hearing your own call played as an example of how it should be done is a good feeling, and it shows the team that recordings are not only about finding problems. Our post on sharing mystery shop results with your sales team has more ideas.
Practical questions from the sales floor
Beyond the big picture, a few everyday questions come up in most stores. The answers below are general, and the right approach for your store is one to settle with your lawyer.
Can a salesperson record calls on their own cell phone?
As a party to the call, a salesperson recording their own conversation is generally within the Criminal Code's one-party consent rule. But the dealership's privacy duties do not disappear because the recording sits on a personal phone. Recordings on personal devices are hard to secure, hard to retain consistently and hard to find if a customer asks for their information. Many stores prefer to keep recording on company systems for exactly those reasons.
Do I need to tell my staff their calls are recorded?
Telling your team is good practice regardless, and it may also matter under the privacy rules that apply to your workplace. Those rules vary by province and by sector, so ask your lawyer what applies. On the people side, openness builds trust and turns recordings into a normal part of how the store reviews its work.
Can we use recordings in sales meetings?
Many dealers use recordings in sales meetings and one-on-ones, and it is one of the most valuable things a recording can do. Think about whose voices are on the call. A mystery shop recording features a shopper, not a real customer, which makes it a natural fit for team listening. A recording of a real customer deserves more care, because it contains that customer's personal information and was collected for a stated purpose.
How long should we keep recordings?
Privacy laws generally expect businesses to keep personal information only as long as they need it for the purpose they collected it for. There is no single number that fits every store, so set a retention period that suits how you use recordings, write it down and follow it.
Related rules dealers often ask about
CASL and internet leads
Call recording sits next to another set of rules dealers deal with daily: Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, which governs commercial electronic messages such as emails and texts. When a buyer sends an inquiry, replying to that inquiry is generally treated differently from sending unsolicited marketing, but ongoing marketing messages need proper consent and an unsubscribe option. Our post on CASL rules for car dealerships covers this in more detail.
Provincial dealer regulators
Provincial regulators such as AMVIC in Alberta, OMVIC in Ontario and the Vehicle Sales Authority of BC oversee how dealers advertise and sell. They are not the main source of call recording rules, but recordings can be a useful way to see how pricing and fees are being described on the phone.
Calls with US buyers
If you sell to buyers across the border, remember that the other caller's jurisdiction may have its own rules, and some US states require all parties to consent to a recording. Ask your lawyer how to handle those calls.
The bottom line for dealers
Recording calls is a normal, lawful part of running a dealership in Canada when it is done thoughtfully. Know whether you are a party to the call, tell people you record and why, keep recordings secure, use them for what you said you would, and do not keep them forever. Your lawyer can confirm the details for your setup.
If you are weighing recorded mystery shops against call tracking, mystery shopping vs call tracking explains how they differ, and the how dealership mystery shopping works page shows what a recorded shop looks like from start to finish.
Lock is a dealership mystery shopping company based in Calgary. Our shoppers call your sales line and send internet leads like real buyers, at dealerships across Canada, then send you the recording, the scorecard and the details, ready for your sales meetings and one-on-ones. How it works.