With so many ways to communicate with customers today, sending newsletters remains a powerful tool for engaging your audience and promoting your services.
Selecting the right newsletter platform isn’t just about features — it’s about ensuring compliance with Canadian language laws and privacy regulations, such as CASL, while delivering a seamless bilingual experience.
This article is designed to help Canadian businesses find the best newsletter tool with French support, CASL-compliant email marketing, and features tailored for small-business email marketing.
Here’s a curated list of the 7 best newsletter tools for Canadian businesses, from homegrown solutions to popular international platforms trusted worldwide.
DISCLAIMER: Activity Messenger is our software. We created it after experiencing the various shortcomings of existing class management software and email marketing apps for years.
Highlights:
💬 What our customers say:
“We have been working with Activity Messenger for almost two years now and we are so happy we were introduced to their product. We replaced both Mailchimp and Survey Monkey with Activity Messenger as well as continue to find new ways to utilize AM in our daily work. It’s such a robust and easy platform to use.” — Catherine D., Member Services Manager & Finance, Non-Profit Organization Management“This product allows me to send email and/or SMS messages, saves me money and is significantly easier to use than the competitors. I can create, copy, modify and send newsletters and automated messages in minutes where Constant Contact takes hours. Sending SMS messages opens a whole new world with instant response.”— Duncan M., Manager, Recreational Facilities and Services
📌 Read More: We have specific blogs dedicated to crafting email newsletters for soccer clubs, tennis clubs, camps, swim schools, gymnastics clubs, and dance studios.
Highlights:
Highlights:
Highlights:
Highlights:
Highlights:
📌 Read More: Check out our in-depth blog on Canadian alternatives to Constant Contact.
Highlights:
| Feature | Activity Messenger 🇨🇦 | CyberImpact 🇨🇦 | Envoke 🇨🇦 | Cakemail 🇨🇦 | Mailchimp | Constant Contact | Brevo |
| Data Storage Location | Canada | Canada | Canada | Canada | USA | USA | Global |
| CASL Compliance | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Manual setup | ❌ Manual setup | ✅ Built-in |
| Bilingual Support (EN/FR) | ✅ Full | ✅ Full | ✅ Full | ✅ Full | ❌ English only | ❌ English only | ✅ Full |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Standard | ✅ Standard | ✅ Standard | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Standard | ✅ Standard |
| Email Templates | 100+ | 200+ | 150+ | 80+ | 300+ | 500+ | 70+ |
| Marketing Automation | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Basic | ✅ Intermediate | ✅ Basic | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Basic | ✅ Advanced |
| A/B Testing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Analytics & Reporting | ✅ Detailed | ✅ Standard | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Standard | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Detailed | ✅ Advanced |
| SMS Marketing | ✅ Integrated | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ (US Only) | ✅ |
| CRM Integration | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Limited | ✅ Advanced | ✅ Basic | ✅ Extensive | ✅ Basic | ✅ Built-in |
| Customer Support | Unlimited (Live chat, phone, email) | 60 days unlimited, then limited | Unlimited (Business hours) | Unlimited (Email, chat) | Limited (Email only for basic plans) | Unlimited (Phone, chat) | Unlimited (Phone, email) |
| Starting Price (Paid) | $89/month | $22/month | $29/month | $19/month | $28/month | $17/month | $10/month |
| Integrated Tools | ✅ (Canva, Stripe, ChatGPT, Zoom, etc) | ✅ (Zapier, Amilia, Tuxedo, Reservit, etc) | ✅ (Zapier) | ✅ (Zapier) | ✅ (Canva, Shopify, Wix, Zapier, Facebook, etc) | ✅ (Canva, Square, Xero, Salesforce, etc) | ✅ (Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, PayPal, etc) |
| Canva Integration | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Capterra Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.1/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 |
Best for Small Businesses & Bilingual Support: Activity Messenger
All-in-one platform with email, SMS, surveys, and event management — fully bilingual and CASL-compliant. Activity Messenger can also replace other US-based tools such as JotForm, SurveyMonkey, SmartWaiver and Eventbrite. That way, you’re only paying for one tool instead of multiple US-based subscriptions.
Best for CASL Compliance & Simplicity: CyberImpact
Designed in Canada with built-in consent management and easy French-English newsletter creation.
Best for Budget-Friendly Email Marketing: Cakemail
User-friendly, affordable plans ideal for startups and small teams.
Best for Advanced Automation & Analytics: Mailchimp
Powerful automation workflows and in-depth campaign reporting for growing or global businesses.
Best for Fast Setup & Strong Support: Constant Contact
Easy drag-and-drop editor with reliable customer service and social media tools.
Best for Multi-Channel Marketing: Brevo
Combines email, SMS, and CRM with flexible pricing and list segmentation options.
Canadian-designed platforms like Activity Messenger, CyberImpact, Envoke, and Cakemail offer native bilingual support, allowing you to create and send newsletters in both official languages easily. This is especially important for businesses serving diverse Canadian audiences or operating in Quebec.
CASL requires businesses to obtain explicit consent before sending commercial electronic messages and mandates easy unsubscribe options. Platforms like Activity Messenger and CyberImpact have built-in tools to manage consent, automate unsubscribe requests, and ensure your email marketing is CASL compliant, thereby reducing your legal risks.
Yes, you can use platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or Brevo while following CASL, but you must carefully manage your recipient consents and ensure clear opt-in processes. Keep in mind that these platforms typically store data outside of Canada, which could impact your privacy compliance strategy. For Canadian data residency, homegrown tools like Activity Messenger are preferable.
Automation can save time and increase engagement by sending timely messages like welcome emails, reminders, or follow-ups without manual effort. Advanced tools like Mailchimp, Brevo, and Activity Messenger offer automation features, but Activity Messenger’s combination of email and SMS automation makes it uniquely powerful for Canadian businesses wanting multi-channel outreach.
If budget is a concern, Cakemail and Activity Messenger provide cost-effective plans with essential features for startups and small businesses. Activity Messenger’s inclusive pricing for multiple channels (email, SMS, surveys, registrations) means fewer tools to buy separately, offering more value overall.
Canadian-designed tools like Activity Messenger and CyberImpact provide strong bilingual support, CASL compliance, and integrated features that are ideal for small and medium-sized businesses seeking simplicity and security. Meanwhile, international platforms such as Mailchimp and Brevo offer advanced automation and analytics, which are well-suited for larger or global campaigns, although with different data hosting considerations.
Whichever tool you choose, prioritizing compliance, language capabilities, and ease of use will help you build stronger connections with your audience and maximize the impact of your email marketing efforts.
💡 Ready to streamline your communications with a platform designed for Canadian businesses? Book a meeting with one of our experts to see how Activity Messenger can work for you.
