diff --git a/mypy.ini b/mypy.ini
index fa1afb0b..136f4c79 100644
--- a/mypy.ini
+++ b/mypy.ini
@@ -36,4 +36,7 @@ ignore_missing_imports = True
 ignore_missing_imports = True
 
 [mypy-phonenumbers.*]
+ignore_missing_imports = True
+
+[mypy-py_w3c.*]
 ignore_missing_imports = True
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/notifications_utils/template.py b/notifications_utils/template.py
index bf387d83..b5d8d2b6 100644
--- a/notifications_utils/template.py
+++ b/notifications_utils/template.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 from notifications_utils.take import Take
 from notifications_utils.template_change import TemplateChange
 from notifications_utils.sanitise_text import SanitiseSMS
+from notifications_utils.validate_html import check_if_string_contains_valid_html
 
 
 template_env = Environment(
@@ -351,6 +352,7 @@ def __init__(
         logo_with_background_colour=False,
         brand_name=None,
         jinja_path=None,
+        allow_html=False,
     ):
         super().__init__(template, values, jinja_path=jinja_path)
         self.fip_banner_english = fip_banner_english
@@ -361,6 +363,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.brand_colour = brand_colour
         self.logo_with_background_colour = logo_with_background_colour
         self.brand_name = brand_name
+        self.allow_html = allow_html
         # set this again to make sure the correct either utils / downstream local jinja is used
         # however, don't set if we are in a test environment (to preserve the above mock)
         if "pytest" not in sys.modules:
@@ -390,7 +393,7 @@ def __str__(self):
 
         return self.jinja_template.render(
             {
-                "body": get_html_email_body(self.content, self.values),
+                "body": get_html_email_body(self.content, self.values, html="passthrough" if self.allow_html else "escape"),
                 "preheader": self.preheader,
                 "fip_banner_english": self.fip_banner_english,
                 "fip_banner_french": self.fip_banner_french,
@@ -423,6 +426,7 @@ def __init__(
         brand_name=None,
         logo_with_background_colour=None,
         asset_domain=None,
+        allow_html=False,
     ):
         super().__init__(
             template,
@@ -442,6 +446,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.brand_text = brand_text
         self.brand_name = brand_name
         self.asset_domain = asset_domain or "assets.notification.canada.ca"
+        self.allow_html = allow_html
 
     def __str__(self):
         return Markup(
@@ -451,6 +456,7 @@ def __str__(self):
                         self.content,
                         self.values,
                         redact_missing_personalisation=self.redact_missing_personalisation,
+                        html="passthrough" if self.allow_html else "escape",
                     ),
                     "subject": self.subject,
                     "from_name": escape_html(self.from_name),
@@ -724,14 +730,17 @@ def is_unicode(content):
     return set(content) & set(SanitiseSMS.WELSH_NON_GSM_CHARACTERS)
 
 
-def get_html_email_body(template_content, template_values, redact_missing_personalisation=False):
+def get_html_email_body(template_content, template_values, redact_missing_personalisation=False, html="escape"):
+    if html == "passthrough" and check_if_string_contains_valid_html(template_content) != []:
+        # template_content contains invalid html, so escape it
+        html = "escape"
 
     return (
         Take(
             Field(
                 template_content,
                 template_values,
-                html="escape",
+                html=html,
                 markdown_lists=True,
                 redact_missing_personalisation=redact_missing_personalisation,
             )
diff --git a/notifications_utils/validate_html.py b/notifications_utils/validate_html.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f21335c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications_utils/validate_html.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from py_w3c.validators.html.validator import HTMLValidator
+
+
+def check_if_string_contains_valid_html(content: str) -> list:
+    """
+    Check if html snippet is valid - returns [] if html is valid.
+    This is only a partial document, so we expect the Doctype and title to be missing.
+    """
+
+    allowed_errors = [
+        "Start tag seen without seeing a doctype first. Expected “<!DOCTYPE html>”.",
+        "Element “head” is missing a required instance of child element “title”.",
+    ]
+
+    # the content can contain markdown as well as html - wrap the content in a div so it has a chance of being valid html
+    content_in_div = f"<div>{content}</div>"
+
+    val = HTMLValidator()
+    val.validate_fragment(content_in_div)
+
+    significant_errors = []
+    for error in val.errors:
+        if error["message"] in allowed_errors:
+            continue
+        significant_errors.append(error)
+
+    return significant_errors
diff --git a/notifications_utils/version.py b/notifications_utils/version.py
index 7fbab54f..c9b8ad47 100644
--- a/notifications_utils/version.py
+++ b/notifications_utils/version.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-__version__ = "45.0.0"
+__version__ = "46.0.0"
 # GDS version '34.0.1'
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a49786a9..b0ebcc5b 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
         "pytz==2021.1",
         "smartypants==2.0.1",
         "pypdf2==1.26.0",
+        "py_w3c==0.3.1",
         # required by both api and admin
         "awscli==1.19.58",
         "boto3==1.17.58",
diff --git a/tests/test_template_types.py b/tests/test_template_types.py
index 794383b6..708b7e53 100644
--- a/tests/test_template_types.py
+++ b/tests/test_template_types.py
@@ -206,6 +206,28 @@ def test_alt_text_with_no_fip_banner(logo_with_background_colour, brand_text, ex
     assert expected_alt_text in email
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("renderer", [HTMLEmailTemplate, EmailPreviewTemplate])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "content, allow_html, expected",
+    [
+        ("Hello World", True, "Hello World"),
+        ("Hello World", False, "Hello World"),
+        ("<div>Hello World</div>", True, "<div>Hello World</div>"),
+        ("<div>Hello World</div>", False, "&lt;div&gt;Hello World&lt;/div&gt;"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_allow_html_works(content: str, allow_html: bool, expected: str, renderer):
+    email = str(
+        renderer(
+            {"content": content, "subject": ""},
+            fip_banner_english=True,
+            allow_html=allow_html,
+        )
+    )
+
+    assert expected in email
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("complete_html", (True, False))
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "branding_should_be_present, brand_logo, brand_text, brand_colour",
diff --git a/tests/test_validate_html.py b/tests/test_validate_html.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dea80e91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_validate_html.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import pytest
+
+from notifications_utils.validate_html import check_if_string_contains_valid_html
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "good_content",
+    (
+        "<div>abc</div>",
+        '<div style="display: none;">abc</div>',
+        """<div style="margin: 20px auto 30px auto;">
+  <img
+    src="http://google.com"
+    alt="alt text"
+    height="10"
+    width="10"
+  />
+</div>""",
+        "abc<div>abc</div>xyz",
+    ),
+)
+def test_good_content_is_valid(good_content: str):
+    assert check_if_string_contains_valid_html(good_content) == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "bad_content", ("<div>abc<div>", '<img src="http://google.com">', "abc<div>abc<div>xyz", '<div style=">abc</div>')
+)
+def test_bad_content_is_invalid(bad_content: str):
+    assert check_if_string_contains_valid_html(bad_content) != []