Each service can send 100,000 free text message parts per year and 1500 free text message parts per day.
Phone carriers increase cost for:
To improve message clarity and reduce costs:
Text message parts
Parts are a unit of measurement. Message size is in parts, like file size is in megabytes. Phone carriers measure text messages over 160 characters in parts. Spaces count as characters.
Parts do not affect recipients
Recipients still receive one text message.
Each part counts toward GC Notify’s daily and annual limits
More parts reduce how many messages you can send each day and year.
Characters per part
Some special characters reduce the number of characters per part
| Number of parts | Character count: no reduction | Character count: one or more characters affect parts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to and including 160 | Up to and including 70 |
| 2 | Up to and including 306 | Up to and including 134 |
| 3 | Up to and including 459 | Up to and including 201 |
| 4 | Up to and including 612 | Up to and including 268 |
| 5 or more | GC Notify cannot send text messages over 612 characters. | Each additional 67 characters counts as another part until 612.
GC Notify cannot send messages over 612 characters. |
Special characters that affect parts
This list does not cover characters in languages other than French. Other special characters, including some currency symbols, may also change message count. As you draft, GC Notify shows an estimate of the number of parts per text message template.
French characters that affect parts
| Capital | Lower case | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Â | â | Capital or lower case with circumflex |
| À | no effect | Capital with grave |
| no effect | ç | Lower case with cedilla |
| Ê | ê | Capital or lower case with circumflex |
| È | no effect | Capital with grave |
| Ë | ë | Capital or lower case with dieresis |
| Î | î | Capital or lower case with circumflex |
| Ï | ï | Capital or lower case with dieresis |
| Ô | ô | Capital or lower case with circumflex |
| Œ | œ | Capital or lower case with ligature |
| Û | û | Capital or lower case with circumflex |
| Ù | no effect | Capital with grave |
| Ÿ | ÿ | Capital or lower case with dieresis |
Signs and symbols
The following count as 2 characters each:
- [ Left square bracket
- ] Right square bracket
- { Left curly bracket
- } Right curly bracket
- ^ Circumflex accent
- \ Backslash
- | Vertical bar
- ~ Tilde
- € Euro sign
Best practices for text messages
- Write clear and concise messages. Review tips for English and French messages.
- Use links to connect recipients to more information.
Tips for English messages
- Avoid words like ‘please’ and ‘sorry’.
- Use active voice. For example ‘We may dismiss your application’ instead of ‘Your application will be dismissed’.
- Use commands to give instructions, for example ‘Reschedule’ instead of ‘You should reschedule’.
- Use positive contractions like ‘We’re meeting’.
- Spell out negative contractions like “We cannot meet”.
Tips for French messages
- Do not remove or replace accents to fit more characters per part. Without accents, recipients may not understand and you’ll likely have to completely rewrite the message. The rewrite may have another accent that reduces the characters per part.
- Write short and clear texts by starting with the most important information and avoiding unnecessary content that could distract the reader. Instead of ‘Lors de votre arrivée sur les lieux, merci de bien vouloir fournir une preuve d’identité, qu’il s’agisse d’un passeport ou d’un autre document délivré par le gouvernement fédéral’, use ‘À votre arrivée, présentez un document d’identité fédéral.’
- Use simple words and avoid jargon. For example, instead of ‘Le dossier sera traité conformément au principe de caducité’ use ‘Le dossier sera fermé, car il n’est plus valide’.
- Use gender neutral wording as much as possible. You can use words that have one form to indicate either sex, like ‘individu’ (individual) or ‘personne’ (person) to replace ‘femme’ (woman) or ‘homme’ (man). For groups of people, use neutral collective terms to avoid specifying the gender. For instance, use the term ‘personnel’ (the staff) rather than the gendered plural ‘les employés’ or ’employées’ (the employees).
- Use the active or passive voice based on the context. Active or passive voice may be options to avoid gendered sentences. Use the voice that reads most naturally in French.
- Use the positive form as much as possible and reserve the negative for when consequences could be grave or fatal. Avoid double negations and exceptions to exceptions, which could confuse readers.
Using links
To use a link in a text message:
- Enter the full URL.
- If possible, use “gc.ca” or “canada.ca” to identify your government service.
Examples:
- Visit https://canada.ca
- Check your document : https://your-service.canada.ca/user/12345678
Make the url as concise as possible, without using a URL shortener. URL shorteners can:
- Appear suspicious because they hide the link’s destination.
- Cause your text message to be marked as spam.