UPDATE: The new deadline for changing SFU's email forwarding and maillist protocols, due to Google and Yahoo's guidelines, is June 1. Updates related to email forwarding outages, if any, will be posted on the IT Service Outage page.
Important Changes to SFU Email Practices
April 15, 2024
The new deadline for changing SFU's email forwarding and maillist protocols, due to Google and Yahoo's guidelines, is June 1.
Since our last update, Google has shared their plan for the changes, including timelines and plans for gradual enforcement.
February 1, 2024 – Google began sending error messages for non-compliant emails.
April 1, 2024 – Google began rejecting a percentage of non-compliant emails.
June 1, 2024 – Google will reject all non-compliant emails and the “unsubscribe” option will be required for all mass emails.
During this extension of time, we’re:
Implementing a new service called Simplelists as a way to create group email lists for business, teaching and research-critical needs.
Migrating SFU Mail accounts to Exchange Online starting in May to allow the forwarding of SFU emails to non-SFU addresses.
Ensuring there’s an ‘unsubscribe’ option in all bulk emails sent to non-SFU addresses by June.
Stay tuned for more updates as we work towards these new timelines.
Additional information shared with students, alumni and retirees:
Students have received similar communication regarding these changes, and they also need to access SFU Mail using their Computing ID and password to receive important emails.
Alumni Email Forwarding will be retired on June 1, 2024 and @alumni.sfu.ca email addresses will no longer receive emails after this date. Keep your details current with SFU to enjoy alumni updates, events, and benefits. More info at https://www.sfu.ca/alumni/stay-connected.html.
Retirees can continue to access their email via mail.sfu.ca.
To learn more about these changes, please refer to the FAQs below.
Email Practice Changes - Frequently Asked Questions
SFU’s current email practices do not comply with Google and Yahoo’s new email guidelines and as a result, SFU is:
Using Simplelists to replace SFU Maillist for users to continue sending communication to groups containing external email addresses.
Migrating SFU Mail accounts to Exchange Online starting in May to allow the forwarding of SFU emails to non-SFU addresses.
Ensuring that all bulk email sent to external accounts have the unsubscribe option required by the guidelines in place.
Google and Yahoo announced changes in February 2024 to enhance security and help them combat spam and phishing attacks. Adapting SFU's email practices is crucial as we continue sending emails to Google and Yahoo users, including prospective students.
This change is necessary for us to comply with new industry standards, enhance email security, and to ensure that our university messaging continues to reach the email inboxes of our various audiences.
Faculty, staff, students, retirees using SFU Maillist to send email to external email accounts.
Faculty, staff, students who are currently forwarding their SFU email to external email accounts.
Alumni using the Alumni Email Forwarding Service.
Starting June 1, Google will reject all non-compliant emails and the “unsubscribe” option will be required for all mass emails.
Since the initial announcement by Google and Yahoo, IT Services has been looking at potential alternatives to comply with their new requirements. After review by researchers and IT leaders across the university, Simplelists emerged as the recommended solution.
Simplelists is for users who send communications to groups containing internal and external email addresses. For those communicating only within the SFU community, the existing SFU Maillist service will continue to serve their needs without any interruptions for now.
Please request access via simplelists-help@sfu.ca if you wish to create and manage email lists using Simplelists. You can receive service updates as this service evolves by visiting https://lists.sfu.ca and subscribing to the "simplelists-service-updates" list.
Starting June 1, SFU Maillist will no longer support emails to external addresses. To continue sending emails to those outside of SFU:
Transition to Simplelists by emailing simplelists-help@sfu.ca with your list creation request.
Stay updated by subscribing to "simplelists-service-updates" at lists.sfu.ca.
The Alumni Email Forwarding Service will be retiring on June 1, 2024. This means your @alumni.sfu.ca email address won't receive emails after this date. For information on how to keep in touch with all things SFU, please visit https://www.sfu.ca/alumni/stay-connected.html.
We will be migrating SFU Mail accounts to Exchange Online starting in May to allow the forwarding of SFU emails to non-SFU addresses.
Alumni
SFU’s current email practices do not comply with Google and Yahoo’s new email guidelines and as a result, alumni email forwarding is retiring as of June 1, 2024.
The Alumni Email Forwarding Service will be retiring on June 1, 2024. This means your @alumni.sfu.ca email address won't receive emails after this date. For information on how to keep in touch with all things SFU, please see the 'How to stay connected?' page.
Following Google and Yahoo's security updates in February 2024 to counter spam and phishing, SFU is updating its email forwarding protocols to comply with the new standards. This will ensure our communications continue to reach you without interruptions.
Email providers like Google and Yahoo will enforce new security requirements for messages sent to their accounts, including proper authentication, domain records, secure transmission, low spam rates, and email formatting. Emails that do not meet these new requirements will experience delivery issues, such as being marked as spam or rejected by the recipient's email servers.
Please ensure your contact information is up-to-date with SFU to continue receiving news, events, and alumni benefits. Visit https://www.sfu.ca/alumni/stay-connected.html for more information.
SFU Mail storage accounts (@sfu.ca) are for current students. If you haven’t taken classes for over a year, your SFU Mail storage account is expired and no longer accessible. For those who set up Alumni Email Forwarding (@alumni.sfu.ca) and graduated before 2024, forwarding of SFU-related emails will discontinue after June 1, 2024.
Maillist
Simplelists, a maillist alternative, is now available to support our community's business, teaching, and research-critical needs. Simplelists is for users who currently send communications to groups containing internal and external email addresses.
Starting June 1, SFU Maillist will no longer support emails to external addresses. To continue sending emails to those outside of SFU:
Transition to Simplelists by emailing simplelists-help@sfu.ca with your list creation request.
Stay updated by subscribing to "simplelists-service-updates" at lists.sfu.ca.
For marketing-related bulk emails, we recommend using Campaigner. For further information on Campaigner, please contact the Marketing & Communications team.
Starting June 1, SFU Maillist will no longer support emails to external addresses. To continue sending emails to those outside of SFU:
Transition to Simplelists by emailing simplelists-help@sfu.ca with your list creation request.
Stay updated by subscribing to "simplelists-service-updates" at lists.sfu.ca.
Please communicate this deadline to any affected parties that you see fit and encourage the transition to Simplelists within your teams.
For those communicating only within the SFU community, the existing SFU Maillist service will continue to serve their needs without any interruptions for now.
Those communicating only within the SFU community, can continue using the existing SFU Maillist service for now.
Retirees
Retirees can continue to access their email via mail.sfu.ca.
