This is a guide to Canadian domain registration otherwise know as .ca. To those interested in register a Canadian Domain, there are a couple qualifications you must fulfill, and then it is quite simple to get registered.
To understand where this is coming from you must understand that there is a governing board, the CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority), who decides what is acceptable with the .ca domain names. They have laid out several requirements be eligible for a .Canadian domain name. These requirements are as follows, you either need to be a Canadian citizen, or a permanent resident of Canada. Also corporations can register, as long as they are governed by Canadian law.
If you fit this requirement then there are a couple things you should know. First it that like normal .com names, there can be no duplicate names. So once you have a name you like there are two easy ways to determine if you can use the domain name. The first is to look up the domain with a WHOIS Search, which is the CIRA’s domain registry search engine. The second is that most registrars for Canadian domain names have a search which is tied into the WHOIS that you can use on there site.
The next thing to look at is the cost you are willing to pay for the domain name. The prices vary in large amounts $14.95 CDN to $97.00 CDN. As with all things you get what you pay for, that’s not to say that you can’t get better values just in general. I will include links to several Canadian Domain Name Registrars later in the page.
An Important Note: Though it does not matter where you register, make sure that the registrar you are planning to purchase is CIRA certified, or you will find that you don’t really have what you expected.
When deciding where to register you .ca domain name, also look at there hosting plans, 8 out of 10 the price of the domain is partly reflective of their hosting plan pricing. Why is this important? Because most sites charge you to transfer your domain name to them, and will as a result you will probably end up sticking with the same company you registered with for hosting also.
So keep that in mine, and I wish you the best of luck in your new website.
Here are several sites that register Canadian domain names:
*these are by no means the only options, and are not necessarily the best for you.