Requirements for registering Canadian .ca domain names

There are specific requiremtns for registering .ca domain names. This article describes the most common situations.Table of Contents

• Governing Body
• Categories and Requirements
• Registration Name Formats
• More Information

Governing Body

CIRA, The Canadian Internet Registration Authority, manages the .CA internet domain on behalf of all Canadians. CIRA has determined that the .ca domain space should be developed as a key public resource for the social and economic development of all Canadians. Accordingly, persons who wish to register a .ca domain name or sub-domain name must meet certain Canadian Presence Requirements. When you register a .CA, you enter into a Registrant Agreement and you will be required to select a Canadian Presence Requirements category to show your connection to Canada. After you register, it’s possible that CIRA may request proof of compliance.

Categories and Requirements

Below are shown some of the common categories and their requirements.

Links to the complete CIRA documents can be found in the More Information section.

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

Proof of Compliance: Canadian birth certificate or valid Canadian passport

Permanent resident. A permanent resident as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, 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

Proof of Compliance: Canadian Permanent Resident Card

Corporation. A corporation under the laws of Canada or any province or territory of Canada

Proof of Compliance: Documentation to support a Canadian corporate profile status as supplied for Federal corporations by Industry Canada for others by ESC Corporate services or provincial business registries.

Partnership. A partnership, more than 66.6% of whose partners meet one of several possible Presence Requirements, which is registered as a partnership under the laws of any province or territory of Canada

Proof of Compliance: The required proofs For the Presence Requirement category of the individual members of the partnership.

Registration Name Formats

Specific formats are required for registration names.

The following table shows formats for Citizen and Resident categories.

Valid Registrant name	Invalid Registrant name
John Smith	John
Fred-Albert Doon DDS	J. Doe
Bernard St-James o/a St-James Services	F.A.D
Kathy Lynn Perse	Cool Gal

The following table shows formats for the Corporation category.

Valid Registrant name	Invalid Registrant name
The Foundation of Rosa (NFP)	Smiths
La fondation de Edward (OSBL)	Smiths Consulting
123745 Canada Inc.	Smiths Kennel
Smith Corp. of Ontario	Leatra SP
Smith Ltée. Canada	Smiths Corp.

The Registrant name must be the full legal name of the corporation and must be followed by the jurisdiction of incorporation (i.e. Canada, Ontario, NWT….), unless it is obvious from the corporation’s name. Canadian Internet Registration Authority (Canada)

For Charities – the NFP should be included in the organization name – if it is a not-for-profit organization – you are also required to submit the registration number (i.e. 123456789 RR0001)

More Information

CIRA publishes registration requirements in both accessible web format and PDF.

Click the links below to see the complete versions on the CIRA website.

Canadian Presence Requirements for Registrants

Registrant Information Validation

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