Introduction
In this article, we will explain the policies regarding the Canada country-code TLD .ca.
The reader is encouraged to understand all the concepts and terms outlined in the Basics before proceeding further with this article. In fact, this article is written on the premise that the reader is familiar with the terminology used.
Prerequisite
Go to: https://my.planethoster.com.
Basics
If necessary, refer to the article about Country-Code Domain Specifications.
Characteristics of the Canadian “.ca” TLD Fields
The following “Name” fields must be coded :
- Legal Type.
- CIRA Agreement.
- WHOIS Opt-out.
Canadian Presence Requirements (Legal Type)
The TDL .ca is only available to Canadians or people who have an attachment to Canada (business, royalty, etc.).
Anyone wishing to register a .ca domain name must meet certain Canadian Presence Requirements (CPR). For this reason, registrants must complete the Legal Type field on the order form. From the drop-down list, they must select the most appropriate Canadian Presence Requirement category.
The Canadian Presence Requirements are described in the table below:
| CPR | Description |
| Aboriginal Peoples (individuals or groups) indigenous to Canada | Any Inuit, First Nation, Metis or other indigenous people of Canada and any collectivity of such Aboriginal peoples. |
| Canadian Educational Institution | Any of the following:a university or college which is located in Canada and which is authorized or recognized as a university or college under an Act of the legislature of a province or territory of Canada; ora college, post-secondary school, vocational school, secondary school, pre-school or other school or educational institution which is located in Canada and which is recognized by the educational authorities of a province or territory of Canada or licensed under or maintained by an Act of Parliament of Canada or of the legislature of a province or territory of Canada. |
| Canadian Hospital | A hospital which is located in Canada and which is licensed, authorized or approved to operate as a hospital under an Act of the legislature of a province or territory of Canada. |
| Canadian Library, Archive or Museum | An institution, whether or not incorporated, that:is located in Canada; andis not established or conducted for profit or does not form part of, or is not administered or directly or indirectly controlled by, a body that is established or conducted for profit, in which is held and maintained a collection of documents and other materials that is open to the public or to researchers. |
| Canadian Political Party | A political party registered under a relevant electoral law of Canada or any province or territory of Canada. |
| Canadian Trade Union | A trade union which is recognized by a labour board under the laws of Canada or any province or territory of Canada and which has its head office in Canada. |
| Canadian Association | An unincorporated organization, association or club:at least 80% of whose members: (A) are ordinarily resident in Canada (if such members are individuals); or (B) meet one of the conditions set out about Canadian citizens, Permanent Residents, Legal Representatives, Corporations (Canada or Canadian province or territory), Trusts established in Canada and Partnerships registered in Canada (if such members are not individuals); andat least 80% of whose directors, officers, employees, managers, administrators or other representatives are ordinarily resident in Canada. |
| Canadian citizen | A Canadian citizen of the age of majority under the laws of the province or territory in Canada in which he or she resides or last resided. |
| Corporation (Canada or Canadian province or territory) | A corporation under the laws of Canada or any province or territory of Canada. |
| Government or government entity in Canada | Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, a province or a territory; an agent of Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, of a province or of a territory; a federal, provincial or territorial Crown corporation, government agency or government entity; or a regional, municipal or local area government. |
| Her Majesty the Queen | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second and her successors. |
| Indian Band recognized by the Indian Act of Canada | Any Indian band as defined in the Indian Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5, as amended from time to time, and any group of Indian bands. |
| Legal Representative of a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident | An executor, administrator or other legal representative of a Canadian citizen or a Permanent resident. |
| Official mark registered in Canada | A Person which does not meet any of the foregoing conditions, but which is a Person intended to be protected by Subsection 9(1) of the TradeMarks Act (Canada) at whose request the Registrar of Trade-marks has published notice of adoption of any badge, crest, emblem, official mark or other mark pursuant to Subsection 9(1), but in this case such permission is limited to an application to register a .ca domain name consisting of or including the exact word component of such badge, crest, emblem, official mark or other mark in respect of which such Person requested publications. |
| Partnership Registered in Canada | A partnership, more than 66.6% of whose partners meet one of the conditions set out for Canadian citizens, Permanent residents, Legal Representative sof a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident, Corporations (Canada or Canadian province or territory) and Trusts established in Canada, which is registered as a partnership under the laws of any province or territory of Canada. |
| Permanent Resident of Canada | A permanent resident as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, (Canada) S.C. 2001, c. 27, as amended from time to time, who is ordinarily resident in Canada and of the age of majority under the laws of the province or territory in Canada in which he or she resides or last resided;(amended June 5, 2003). |
| Trade-mark registered in Canada (by a non-Canadian owner) | A Person which does not meet any of the foregoing conditions, but which is the owner of a trade-mark which is the subject of a registration under the Trade-marks Act (Canada) R.S.C. 1985, c.T-13 as amended from time to time, but in this case such permission is limited to an application to register a .ca domain name consisting of or including the exact word component of that registered trade-mark. |
| Trust established in Canada | A trust established and subsisting under the laws of a province or territory of Canada, more than 66.6% of whose trustees meet one of the conditions set out in relation to Canadian citizens, Permanent residents, Legal Representative of a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident and Corporations (Canada or Canadian province or territory). |
CIRA Holder Agreement (CIRA Agreement Field)
The Registrant must fully accept this Agreement before accepting an order for a .ca domain name.
CIRA’s Registration Agreement is available at https://www.cira.ca/policies/. PlanetHoster is required to display it to the Registrant in its entirety before accepting an order for a .ca domain name. PlanetHoster must also make sure that the Registrant scrolls through the entire Agreement before accepting the terms of the agreement. After registration, the Registrant will receive an email containing a link to accept the agreement. If it is necessary to accept the agreement at a later date, the Contact ID handle is obtained from PlanetHoster support and the holder must be asked to accept the terms via this page: https://www.cira.ca/registrant-agreement.
WHOIS Privacy for .ca domains (WHOIS Opt-out field)
CIRA limits the personal information of .ca domain name registrants that is publicly available through the WHOIS search service. By default, the public WHOIS does not provide personal information for individual .ca registrants.
Interested third parties may contact the Registrant using a contact form similar to other WHOIS lookup services available on CIRA’s website.
Information about Registrants of domain names registered in the name of companies is provided on an ongoing basis, unless companies and organizations request similar WHOIS protection in specific circumstances; this feature is disabled by default.
The authoritative WHOIS server for .ca domains is https://www.cira.ca/ca-domains/whois.
Domain Transfer Specifications
If a domain transfer is made, the expiration date becomes the date of the transfer plus one year, but other times, it does not change anything.
Characteristics of the “.qc.ca” Québec TLD
The .qc TLD is now blocked by CIRA, in the sense that new domains cannot be registered.
However, if you already have one, you can transfer it as is to PlanetHoster as long as the .ca already exists at PlanetHoster. For example, if you have “xyz.qc.ca“, you can transfer it entirely to PlanetHoster if the domain “xyz.ca” exists there.
Additional information
For details, please refer to https://www.cira.ca/registry-services.