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Keeping .CA Canadian

The .CA domain is like the Canadian flag on your digital backpack – a unique identifier for Canadian websites. As Canada’s country code top-level domain, .CA is a key public resource for the social and economic development of all Canadians.

How exactly does CIRA ensure that .CA is kept Canadian? Here’s some information that will be helpful if you’re interested in registering a .CA domain to brand your website as proudly Canadian.


Canadian Presence Requirements (CPR)

When you register a .CA, you enter into a Registrant Agreement and you will be required to select a CPR category to show your connection to Canada. Here’s a few of the commonly-chosen categories:

Individuals

  • Canadian citizen
  • Permanent resident
  • Legal representative
  • Aboriginal peoples

.CA WHOIS privacy for individuals

For individuals, the contact information provided when you register is not displayed on the .CA WHOIS. This means you don’t need to worry about people using your WHOIS contact information to spam you (as is the case with some other TLDs) or purchase additional privacy protection services from Registrars.

Non-individuals

  • Corporation
  • Trademark registered in Canada
  • Official marks
  • Association
  • Trust
  • Partnership
  • Educational institution
  • Library, archive or museum
  • Hospital
  • Government

Please note this is not a complete list of CPR categories. To learn more about the eighteen possible categories, please refer to the Canadian Presence Requirements policy.

After you register, it’s possible that CIRA may request proof of compliance based on your chosen category through a process called Registrant Information Validation (RIV).

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