Domains

Domains Help

About .ca Domains

Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the sponsor and our backend provider for the country-code domain (ccTLD) .ca extension that represents Canada.

Who can register .ca domains?

Only individuals and entities that meet the requirements in the Canadian Presence Requirements can apply to CIRA to register .ca domain names.

Registration restrictions

When registering a .ca domain, you must follow specific requirements.

  • Must use: 3-63 characters
  • Can use: Letters (a-z characters), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (except in the 1st or last characters of the domain name)
  • Cannot use: Special characters (e.g., & and #)
  • IDNs: Supported - é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï and ÿ
    • If you own an existing .ca, you have your IDN variant reserved, but they must be independently registered. The registrant and registrar must match the existing domain. To register the matching .ca IDN that has been reserved for you, you’ll need contact a GoDaddy Guide for assistance.

Features

  • Registration length: 1-10 years
  • Renewal length: 1-10 years
    • CIRA automatically renews .ca domains on their expiration date.
    • If you don’t pay for the renewal within 30 days after the expiration date, you can attempt to recover your .ca domain with any applicable fees.
  • Backorders: Not supported
  • Transfers to GoDaddy: Supported
    • Exceptions:
      • CIRA restricts domains from transfer during the first 65 days of registration.
      • When a domain transfer takes place, it must be initiated for every variant (IDN) of the .ca domain. If not, the transfer will fail.
      • Transfers normally take five to seven days from the time you authorize them. However, a .ca transfer goes through immediately after you enter the authorization code and click Finish.
      • When viewing the status of a transfer, your administrative contact's email address displays as nocontactsfound@secureserver.net because we cannot access your WHOIS contact information.

      Note: If your domain expired, you have 30 days after the expiration date to transfer it to us.

  • Transfers away from GoDaddy: Supported
  • Transfers to another GoDaddy account: Supported
    • When the domain name is moved, the registrant first name, last name, and organization cannot be changed.
  • Domain Privacy: Not supported
    • CIRA automatically applies domain privacy to new .ca domains. It limits the personal information that displays in the WHOIS directory for the following legal types:
      • Canadian citizens
      • Permanent residents
      • Legal representatives
      • Aboriginal persons
    • For more information about what CIRA keeps private, see CIRA's requirements and CIRA's Privacy Policy.
  • Domain Protection: Supported
  • Cashparking: Not supported
  • Contact Updates: Supported
    • Update the Canadian Legal Type for your domains anytime through your account.
      1. Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio. (Need help logging in? Find your username or password.)
      2. Select the checkboxes next to the domains you'll be updating. Or, select the checkbox next to Domain Name and then choose Select All.
        screenshot of multiple domains selected
      3. Select .CA CIRA Agreement from the action menu.
        • Depending on your screen size, you may need to select the More menu and scroll down to see .CA CIRA Agreement.
      4. Change your preferred language and select a new Legal Type from the available options.
      5. Select the checkbox to agree to the terms and select Save.

      You'll see a Success confirmation letting you know the settings have been updated.

Nameserver requirements

  • Must use: 2-6 Nameservers, unique IP address
  • Can use: Only one IPv4 per host, only one IPv6 per host
  • Cannot use: DNSSEC, Vanity nameservers

You must register .ca-based nameservers with CIRA prior to adding them to your domain. For example, if you have coolexample.ca and want to set up custom nameservers ns1.coolexample.ca and ns2.coolexample.ca, contact a GoDaddy Guide to get them registered.

Once your .ca nameservers are registered, add them to your .ca domain, then assign the nameservers to your domain.

Refunds

For details on refunds, review our refund policy

Tax information

All .ca registrants must pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Other taxes may include Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which is GST, and the Provincial Sales Tax (PST).

More info

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