.ca

Last updated

.ca
Dotca.png
IntroducedMay 14, 1987;36 years ago (1987-05-14)
TLD type Country code top-level domain
StatusActive
Registry Canadian Internet Registration Authority
Sponsor Government of Canada
Intended useEntities connected with Canada
Actual usePopular in Canada, where .ca is advantageous when selling to a Canadian audience in Canadian dollars.
Registered domains3,329,987 (2022-12-11) [1]
Registration restrictionsThere are Canadian presence requirements for registrants
StructureProvincially registered companies originally had to register at third level under province code, but now anybody may register at second level
Documents Official CIRA documents
Dispute policies CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP)
DNSSEC Yes [2]
Registry website CIRA

.ca is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Canada. The domain name registry that operates it is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).

Contents

Registrants can register domains at the second level (e.g., example.ca). Third-level registrations in one of the geographic third-level domains defined by the registry (e.g. example.ab.ca) were discontinued on October 12, 2010, [3] but existing third-level domain names continue to be supported.

Canadian Presence Requirements

Registrants of .ca domains must meet the Canadian Presence Requirements [4] as defined by the registry. Examples of valid entities include:

History

The domain name was originally allocated by Jon Postel, operator of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), to John Demco of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1987. The first .ca domain was registered by the University of Prince Edward Island in January 1988. [5]

In 1997, at the Canadian annual Internet conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Canadian Internet community, with a view to liberalize registration procedures and substantially improve turnaround times, decided to undertake reform of the .ca Registry.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is a non-profit Canadian corporation that is responsible for operating the .ca Internet country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) today. It assumed operation of the .ca ccTLD on December 1, 2000, from UBC. On April 15, 2008, CIRA registered its one millionth .ca Internet domain name. [6]

Any .ca registration has to be ordered via a certified registrar.

Third-level (provincial) and fourth-level (municipal) domains

UBC's registry operations once favoured fourth-level names (such as city.toronto.on.ca) for purely local entities or third-level names for entities operating solely within one province. Nationally incorporated companies could have a .ca domain, while provincially incorporated companies required the letters of their province, like .mb.ca. Only an entity with presence in two or more provinces was typically registered directly under .ca; this complex structure (and the long delays in getting .ca registration) caused many Canadian entities to favour the .com, .org and .net registrations, despite the then-higher cost. [ citation needed ]

Currently, any of the above listed parties can register a domain with a name of their choosing followed directly by .ca. CIRA stopped accepting new registrations for third-level domains on October 12, 2010, [3] citing complexity and the low number of new third domain registration as the reason for the change. As a result, the following domains at the third-level are no longer available for registration:

DomainProvince/Territory
.ab.ca Alberta
.bc.ca British Columbia
.mb.ca Manitoba
.nb.ca New Brunswick
.nf.ca Newfoundland
.nl.ca Newfoundland and Labrador
.ns.ca Nova Scotia
.nt.ca Northwest Territories
.nu.ca Nunavut
.on.ca Ontario
.pe.ca Prince Edward Island
.qc.ca Quebec
.sk.ca Saskatchewan
.yk.ca Yukon

The second-level domain name '.gc.ca' (Government of Canada) is commonly mistaken as one of the regional domains under which CIRA will allow Government of Canada registrations. gc.ca is actually a standard domain like all other .ca domain names. CIRA does not register domain names under .gc.ca directly.

The .mil.ca second-level domain name is also a standard domain and is registered to the Department of National Defence (DND). The .mil.ca suffix is used internally by DND on its intranet, the Defence Information Network (DIN) or Defence Wide Area Network (DWAN), to distinguish intranet-only websites.

Naming restrictions

Internationalized domain names (IDN) were introduced in January 2013 with a limited selection of characters (é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, ÿ) to allow French language text with diacritics. [7] Names which differ only in diacritical accents (such as metro.ca and métro.ca) must have the same owner and same registrar. [8] Domain names that begin with the four characters xn-- are otherwise not available for registration. Length must be 2-63 characters, including the xn-- prefix encoding for internationalised domain names.

Names which match the name of an existing generic three-letter top level domain (such as .com.ca) or the Canadian top level country code (.ca) are reserved and therefore not available for new registrations. Certain expletives are not accepted as names. Municipal names of individual cities and localities within Canada are also reserved nationwide, along with village.ca, hamlet.ca, town.ca, city.ca, ville.ca and the names of Canadian provinces. [9]

There are a handful of existing .ca registered names as short as two characters in length, but these tend to be rare as two-letter combinations matching any existing country-code TLDs were reserved in the past. Exceptions were typically names registered before the restriction was introduced, such as the Canadian Governor General at gg.ca.

Names which exist at any of the levels (.ca, an individual province or territory, or an individual city) are blocked in their availability elsewhere in the .ca hierarchy. Registration, if it can be done at all, requires manual intervention by the prospective registrar as the permission of all existing registrant(s) must be obtained by CIRA. [10] For instance, if the province of New Brunswick were to want to register "gouv.nb.ca", [11] CIRA's normal automated WHOIS and registration tools would simply return the following error:

The domain name provided conflicts with at least one other registered domain name (e.g. xyz.ca conflicts with xyz.on.ca). Registering this domain name requires permission from the Registrant(s) that already holds the domain name(s): gouv.on.ca, gouv.pe.ca, gouv.qc.ca. Contact CIRA for more information.

Since Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec already use "gouv" on their provincial second-level domains for the French-language versions of their government websites, this domain is unavailable through the normal registration process. However, with the agreement of these three parties New Brunswick would indeed be able to register and use gouv.nb.ca.

Existing third-level domain registrants looking to obtain the corresponding second-level domain are normally advised to use the same initial registrar for both names.

Expired domains

After a thirty-day redemption period, intended to provide the original registrant one final chance to reclaim a suspended name, the expired names are assigned a to-be-released (TBR) status. These names are made available through a weekly auction process, in which lists of available names are posted online [12] and advance bids are placed by prospective registrants through the various .ca registrars.

Domains which receive no bids are then released and made openly available for new registrations.

See also

Related Research Articles

A domain name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative control of a domain name. Most registries operate on the top-level and second-level of the DNS.

The domain com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Created in the first group of Internet domains at the beginning of 1985, its name is derived from the word commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for subdomains registered by commercial organizations. Later, the domain opened for general purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.org</span> Generic top-level domain

The domain name .org is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) of the Domain Name System (DNS) used on the Internet. The name is truncated from 'organization'. It was one of the original domains established in 1985, and has been operated by the Public Interest Registry since 2003. The domain was originally "intended as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn't fit anywhere else." It is commonly used by non-profit organizations, open-source projects, and communities, but is an open domain that can be used by anyone. The number of registered domains in .org has increased from fewer than one million in the 1990s, to ten million in 2012, and held steady between ten and eleven million since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.eu</span> Internet country-code top level domain for the European Union

.eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union (EU). Launched on 7 December 2005, the domain is available for any person, company or organization based in the European Union. This was extended to the European Economic Area in 2014, after the regulation was incorporated into the EEA Agreement, and hence is also available for any person, company or organization based in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium originally consisting of the national ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Sweden, and Italy, joined later by the national registry operator of the Czech Republic. Trademark owners were able to submit registrations through a sunrise period, in an effort to prevent cybersquatting. Full registration started on 7 April 2006.

A domain name registrar is a company that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registry. A registrar operates in accordance with the guidelines of the designated domain name registries.

Domain name scams are types of Intellectual property scams or confidence scams in which unscrupulous domain name registrars attempt to generate revenue by tricking businesses into buying, selling, listing or converting a domain name. The Office of Fair Trading in the United Kingdom has outlined two types of domain name scams which are "Domain name registration scams" and "Domain name renewal scams".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.us</span> Internet country code top-level domain for the United States

.us is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United States. It was established in early 1985. Registrants of .us domains must be U.S. citizens, residents, or organizations – or foreign entities with a presence in the United States or any territory of the United States. Most registrants in the U.S. have registered for .com, .net, .org and other gTLDs, instead of .us, which has primarily been used by state and local governments, even though private entities may also register .us domains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.uk</span> Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom

.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. It was first registered in July 1985, seven months after the original generic top-level domains such as .com and the first country code after .us.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.ee</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Estonia

.ee is the internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of Estonia, operated by the Estonian Internet Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.ae</span> Country code top-level domain for the United Arab Emirates

.ae is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for the United Arab Emirates. It is administered by .aeDA which is part of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of UAE (TDRA).

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the organization that manages the .ca country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Canada. Its offices are located at 979 Bank Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CIRA sets the policies and agendas that support Canada's internet community and Canada's involvement in international internet governance. It is a member-driven organization with membership open to all that hold a .ca domain. As of March 2023, there were more than 3.3 million active .ca domains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.co</span> Internet country-code top level domain for Colombia

.co is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.om</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Oman

.om is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Oman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.pro</span>

The domain name pro is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from professional, indicating its intended use by certified professionals.

.zm is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Zambia. Registrants of .zm domains must "have a presence in Zambia".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.vi</span> Internet country code top-level domain for the U.S. Virgin Islands

.vi is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.in</span> Internet country code top-level domain for India

.in is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for India. It was made available in 1989, four years after original generic top-level domains such as .com, .net and the country code like .us. It is currently administered by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.na</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Namibia

.na is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Namibia corresponding to the two letter code from the ISO-3166 standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.np</span> Internet country-code top level domain for Nepal

.np is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Nepal. It is administered by Mercantile Communication Pvt Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.sx</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten

.sx is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for Sint Maarten.

References

  1. ↑ "Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)". Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). 2022-12-11. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  2. ↑ "DNSSEC: Securing the domain name system". Canadian Internet Registration Authority. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 ".CA FAQ — October 12, 2010". Canadian Internet Registration Authority. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Canadian Presence Requirements for Registrants" (PDF). Canadian Internet Registration Authority . Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "History". Canadian Internet Registration Authority. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "Canada Hits One Million Dot-Ca (.ca) Internet Addresses". Ottawa: Canadian Internet Registration Authority. 15 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "CA takes on a French accent". CIRA. 14 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Register a .CA in French". CIRA. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Registration rules" (PDF). CIRA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "Registration Of Conflicting Domain Names". Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Its current website is at gnb.ca and does not use subdomains.
  12. ↑ "CIRA TBR process". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
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