| Q. |
Do I Have To Have A Web Site Before I Register
A Domain Name? |
| A. |
No you don’t. You can always build the web site
later. It only takes a few minutes to reserve the
name you want before someone else takes it away from you and it takes time to develop a
good web site. In fact, you can register multiple domain names now and build these web
sites later.
To register multiple domain names, click here.
To register a single domain names, click here. |
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| Q. |
How Many .CA Domain Names Can An
Organization Or Individual Register? |
| A. |
Under CIRA's Registration Rules,
any qualifying individual or organization will be able to register an unlimited number of
.CA domain names. The rules are posted in the Registration
Agreement section of this web site. Many businesses and individuals register multiple names for a
variety of reasons:
- to give each of its product its own web site
- in anticipation of new products they will develop/market
- to reflect different language requirements (e.g. a French
domain name which leads to the same website.)
- to customize an existing website for a particular client
- to give the domain name as a gift
To register multiple domain names, click here.
To register one domain names, click here. |
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| Q. |
What Is A Domain Name? |
| A. |
Domain names are the familiar and easy to remember names
used in lieu of the difficult to remember Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers. IP
addresses are used to locate computers on the Internet. |
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| Q. |
What Is The Domain Name System (DNS)? |
| A. |
The Internet domain name system consists of an organized,
hierarchical directory of all domain names and their corresponding computers. |
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| Q. |
Who Can Register .CA Domain Name? |
| A. |
To register a .ca domain name, an applicant must satisfy
the Canadian Presence Requirements (CPR) for
registrants. In the case of domain names registered in the UBC before November 8, 2000,
the registrant will be deemed to satisfy CPR for the specific domain name already
registered. |
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| Q. |
Why Do I Need A Domain Name? |
| A. |
Each domain name is unique. Therefore, it can only be
assigned once to a single party on the web. A domain name is the first and most visible
element of your online identity. Business associates will identify with your domain name
as a way of contacting or connecting with you and/or your company either through email or
your web site. The more closely your domain resembles your offline corporate identity
(e.g. your company name, your USP or your marketing tagline) the easier it will be for
people to remember it and the more it will be used. |
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| Q. |
What Is A Top-Level Domain Name? |
| A. |
A top-level domain is used to designate the type of
organization or the country of origin. Generic top-level designators are commonly three
letter suffixes like .com, .net, .org, .edu. Country code top-level domains are commonly
two letter suffixes like .ca, .us, .uk, etc., as assigned by the United Nations. |
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| Q. |
How Does .CA Differ From .COM? |
| A. |
.CA is the country code Top Level domain (ccTLD)
designating Canada. .COM is the generic Top Level domain (gTLD) designating commercial
activities. The policies and administration of the .ca domain name will be set by CIRA and
governed by Canadian law. The gTLDs are managed in the United States under American law. |
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| Q. |
Who Is An Applicant? |
| A. |
An applicant is a party interested in registering a .CA
domain name, or a party who has already applied for, but has not yet been granted or
refused, a .CA domain name. |
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| Q. |
How Do I Register A New .CA Domain
Name? |
| A. |
A person who wishes to register a new .CA domain name must
retain a certified
registrar to submit a registration request to CIRA. Applications will be processed on
a "first come, first served" basis, in accordance with CIRA's registration
rules. A domain name may be registered for a period of 1 to 10 years. CIRA will charge the
registrar a fee dependent on the registration term. Registrars are then free to set their
own fee structure. If CIRA validates a registration
request and the requested domain name is available for registration by an applicant who is
not already a registrant, the applicant will be required to complete the registration
procedure, including accepting the Registrant Agreement, at CIRA's secure website. Once a
person is registered as a registrant in the CIRA system, it will be fairly simple to
register future domain names through a registrar. If the requested domain name is
available, the name will be registered and the registrant will be advised by CIRA. |
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| Q. |
How Many Characters Can I Register In
A .CA Domain Name? |
| A. |
Under CIRA .CA Registration guidelines, you can register a
.CA domain name from a minimum of 2 characters up to 50 characters. |
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| Q. |
How Can I Determine If A Domain Name
Is Available? |
| A. |
Effective on November 8, 2000, CIRA will maintain a
"WHOIS" look-up system at on this site where applicants and registrars can query
the .CA database to determine if a specific domain name is available. This query service
will be provided at no cost to the user. |
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| Q. |
What Happens To .CA Domain Names That
Were Reserved With A Registrar? |
| A. |
Many registrars have offered a pre-registration service
for new domain names. All queued requests for registration of new .CA names will be
processed beginning November 8, 2000 according to CIRA's policies. On November 8, 2000, CIRA expects that there will be a large number
of requests for new domain name registrations in each registrar's queue. CIRA servers will
probably not be able to handle the number of requests in real time. In order to make the
process as fair as possible, all .CA domain names that have been queued with a certified
registrar will be processed in an order to be determined randomly. CIRA's system will
process one name from each registrar's queue in a circuit of the queues. It will then
repeat the circuit until all the names have been processed in the system. |
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| Q. |
How Will Domain Name Requests Be
Approved? |
| A. |
CIRA will review each completed request for registration
of a domain name made by a registrar on behalf of a registrant, and determine whether to
accept or reject the application in accordance with CIRA's Registration Rules in force at
the time of the receipt of the completed application. Applications will be processed on a
first come, first served basis, in accordance with the Registration
Rules. |
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| Q. |
Are The New Rules Available? |
| A. |
Yes. The Registration Rules
and the Pre-Operational Transfer Date
Registration Rules and Procedures are available at Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)
web site. |
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| Q. |
Can Anything Be Registered As A
Domain Name? |
| A. |
No. Applications for the registration of domain names only
be accepted if they are admissible domain names in accordance with CIRA's Registration Rules. To whom
will a domain name be registered, if there are two requests for the same domain name?
.CA domain names will be registered on a first-come,
first-served basis, in accordance with the Registration Rules,
provided that the applicant and it's certified registrar meet all the conditions for
registration as well as CIRA's rules and procedures. |
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| Q. |
Do I Have To Pay To Re-Register My
Domain Name? |
| A. |
Yes, if the registrar you select is charging for its
service. Existing .CA domain registrants must re-register their .CA domain names using the
services of a CIRA-certified
registrar. |
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| Q. |
What If I Already Paid For A
Registration, Must I Pay Again? |
| A. |
Yes. No one has paid registration fees to UBC for a .CA
domain name. From the very first registration in January 1988 until today, UBC has not
charged for registrations. Some organizations (including UBC) have set up businesses
providing the convenience (for a fee) of dealing with UBC to register .CA domain names on
behalf of their customers. Some people chose to register .CA domain names through one of
those organizations, others chose to deal with UBC directly, but no one has paid the
registry at UBC a fee for registering a domain name in the .CA registry. Every registrar
must pay to have a registrant's domain name re-registered with CIRA. .CA Registration has
several price points available starting from just $49.95+GST for 1 year to $349.95+GST for
10 years. For a complete list, Click Here. |
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| Q. |
Do I Have To Re-Register A Third Or
Fourth Level Domain Name? |
| A. |
All .CA domains must be re-registered, including third and
fourth level domains. |
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| Q. |
Can I Upgrade My Sub-Level .CA
Domains Like .ON.CA? |
| A. |
Yes, registrants of existing third and fourth level domain
names (provincial and city level) will be given the option of upgrading to a second level
domain name such as xyzco.ottawa.on.ca to xyzco.ca under certain conditions. Registrants are advised that such applications can only be
considered by CIRA if:
- The domain name was active prior to August 1, 2000.
- The domain name is not in conflict with any other domain
names in the .CA registry at any level.
- The domain name at the second level must conform to the CIRA
Admissible Names for Registration policy.
If the registry accepts the upgrade request, the registrant
and registrar will be advised of this in the confirmation of registration e-mail. |
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| Q. |
When Will The Upgraded Name Become
Operational? |
| A. |
CIRA will begin processing upgrade requests when the new
rules come into effect November 8, 2000. Until December 1, 2000 the upgrade will be
reflected in the UBC registry and will automatically be transferred to the CIRA Registry
on December 1, 2000. |
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| Q. |
How Can Someone Find Out If A Third
Or Fourth Level Name Is Available For Upgrade? |
| A. |
Each CIRA-certified registrar
is connected with the CIRA Registry and can indicate to you whether an upgrade will be
possible. |
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| Q. |
If The Upgrade Is Requested During
Re-Registration, Is The Existing Third Or Fourth Level Domain Name Automatically Lost? |
| A. |
Not necessarily. You can request the upgrade to the 2nd
level domain when you re-register your domain name with a CIRA-certified registrar and
allow the registration of the 3rd or 4th level domain name to lapse on the Operational
Transfer Date, December 1, 2000. The second level domain would be operational upon
registration with CIRA and activation. Or, you can
request the upgrade to the 2nd level domain and indicate that you wish to re-register the
3rd or 4th level domain name. This will result in two registrations. CIRA will charge the
registrar a fee for each registration. |
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| Q. |
What If I Cannot Upgrade My Domain
Name, May I Keep My Third Or Fourth Level Domain Name? |
| A. |
Yes, if you re-register it with CIRA prior to December 1,
2000. It should be noted that it is expected that a
certain number of registrants of existing registrations under the current UBC registry
will not apply to re-register under the CIRA registry. Therefore, a registration, which is
not available for upgrade due to a conflicting domain name prior to December 1, 2000, may
be available for upgrade after then.
CIRA will therefore allow the upgrading of registrations
after December 1, 2000 according to the same eligibility criteria. However, since existing
.CA domain names are reserved until January 31, 2001, upgrade requests that were initially
rejected due to a conflict will not be reconsidered until then.
A registrant who wishes to request an upgrade of its domain
name registration after December 1, 2000 should cause its registrar to submit an Upgrade
Request to CIRA for the specific domain name; the registrar will be charged a processing
fee. If the Upgrade Request is accepted, as per standard procedures, the registrant and
registrar will be advised that the domain specified in the request has been upgraded.
If the Upgrade Request is rejected the registrant and
registrar will be advised. |
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| Q. |
Can I Keep Both My Current Domain And
My Upgraded Domain Name? |
| A. |
Yes. Re-registering both domain names will allow you to
keep both. |
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| Q. |
When Will Registrants Be Required To
Renew Their Registration With Registrars? |
| A. |
Generally, registrations are effective for a period of one
to 10 years. However, during the re-registration period, a registrant will be registering
its domain name for one or more annual periods, plus the number of months required to
bring them to their existing anniversary date, plus one additional month. This is being
done to avoid all re-registering registrants from having the same anniversary date on
December 1, 2000. So, re-registering registrars will be charged anywhere from 12 to 23
months depending on the existing registrant's anniversary date. For example, if your
domain name anniversary date is July 15 and you are re-registering with CIRA for one year,
your registrar would be required to request registration of your domain name until August
15, 2002. If the anniversary date is August 31, the registrar must request registration to
September 30, 2002. Registrants may opt to register for a period of up to 10 years in
advance. |
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| Q. |
What Will Be A Registrar's Role? |
| A. |
Registrars will act as the interface between the public,
applicants and registrants on the one hand, and the registry on the other. They will apply
on behalf of applicants to register .CA domain names in the registry, and provide
registration renewal, transfer and information update services for registrants. |
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| Q. |
What Is The Nature Of The
Relationship Between Registrars And Applicants/Registrants? |
| A. |
A registrar must enter into a contract with an
applicant/registrant on whose behalf it acts. The terms and conditions of this
contract/agreement are at the discretion of the registrar provided they include the
minimum contractual terms outlined in CIRA's agreement with the registrar. |
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|
| Q. |
Once I Have My Domain, Will It
Automatically Appear On The Internet? |
| A. |
No. You need to find a company to host your domain. Once
your domain is hosted, you can choose to build a web site on that domain whenever you
like. |
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