Are you a .ca domain holder? If so, you should already be aware that the operation of the .ca domain is about to be transferred to CIRA ,the Canadian Internet Registration Authority). I first wrote about the changes in Canadian domain administration in “Goodbye Free Cyber Road”, introducing CIRA and pointing out that this change means that holding a .ca domain is going to start costing you money. How much money isn’t exactly clear yet, because the fees will be set by the individual registrars that CIRA certifies, but what is clear at this point is that if you don’t pay attention and neglect to register your site according to CIRA’s new policies, you’ll lose your .ca domain.

First, a little background. For years, the .ca domain has been administered by volunteers at UBC, but this past June, UBC and the federal government reached an agreement to transfer the administration of .ca domains to CIRA, a non-profit organization created in 1998 with the mandate to set policy for and operate the .ca domain.

Since June, CIRA has been busy doing just that, setting policies and putting the administration in place to operate the .ca domain. CIRA has started certifying registrars, an important step because you can only apply for, register, and maintain a .ca domain through a certified registrar. As of this writing, (Sept 13/00), there are only nine registrars to choose from, but CIRA is continuing to accept applications from registrars and claims that it will be updating the list of certified registrars daily.

CIRA has also been busy organizing a timetable for transferring the current .ca domain registry; the official transfer is set for November 1, 2000. To that end, CIRA has been contacting current .ca domain holders over the summer, asking them to update their account information. Hopefully you’ve done this already; if you haven’t, modify your existing account.

Checked your account information? Think you’ll get on with your life now and let CIRA automatically transfer your .ca domain to the new registry on November 1^st? Wrong! This is just the first step in keeping the .ca domain or domains you hold now. The next thing you need to do is pre-register your existing domain name. To do this, go to the list of certified registrars, click on one of their names, and follow the directions on the registrar’s site. This isn’t as easy as it seems, because not all the listed registrars are up to speed yet; in several cases, you’ll have to drill down through several screens to find the place you need to pre-register, and in other cases, pre-registration of .ca domain names isn’t even available yet! To make it easier, I recommend using Domains.ca, Webnames, or CanHost, all of which have a prominent link to information for current .ca domain holders on their front pages.

It’s a good idea to pre-register your domain before September 18^th, when CIRA will begin processing requests from Registrars for the pre-registration of existing .ca domain names. The "pre-registration period" will be open for 45 days. If you’ve pre-registered your domain with your certified registrar in advance, Webnames or Domain.ca or whichever registrar you’ve chosen will e-mail you before September 18^th, providing access to an automated pre-registration system to complete the registration process. At that time, you’ll find out what your minimum term registration is, and how much it will cost.

What will you be charged? That depends on which registrar you use, as they set the fees. My research shows that you should expect to pay a minimum of $50 per year (plus GST of course)! As a pre-existing .ca domain holder, what you pay this first go-round will also depend on your “anniversary date”; you’ll be required to register your domain for one year, plus the number of months required to bring you to your existing anniversary date. This is being done to ease administration of the .ca domain in the future; it will prevent having all the pre-registering domain holders in the system having the same anniversary date. You may also choose to pre-pay your yearly domain fees for up to 10 years in advance.

Once you’ve pre-registered, your registrar will submit your domain name to CIRA. CIRA in turn will contact you and ask you to go to an on-line secure link to agree to their Registrant Agreement. (Want a preview? Go to this Documents page and scroll down the list to Registrant Agreement. Be warned; in DOC form, it’s 23 pages long!) You have 48 hours to complete this process or a $5 penalty will be charged to you to extend the 48-hour period for another 48 hours. (The maximum time limit CIRA allows is 96 hours.) If you do not complete the process within the specified time period, CIRA will reject the re-registration with no further notice to you or to your registrar. Assuming you complete the process on schedule, CIRA will notify you directly of successful domain registration.

One of the interesting features of the domain transfer process is that you may be able to upgrade your domain name. For instance, if you currently have a third level domain (a provincial level domain, such as star.on.ca or star.bc.ca), or a fourth level domain (a municipal level domain such as star.toronto.on.ca or star.vancouver.bc.ca), you may be able to upgrade your domain to the second, or national, level, and become star.ca before November 1^st when the Registry will be opened on a first-come-first-serve basis.

CIRA's rules for upgrade, according to its FAQ, are that your domain name must have been active prior to August 1, 2000, and must not be in conflict with any other domain names in the .ca registry at any level. (So if your domain is star.bc.ca and someone else has star.on.ca, or star.toronto.on.ca, none of you will be allowed to upgrade.) But if you really want to upgrade, and you’re rejected at first, you might want to try again after November 1^st, as CIRA anticipates that some domain holders will not reregister, and is planning to allow upgrading according to the same criteria 30 days after the official transfer date.

In summary, if you’re a current .ca domain holder, you need to contact a certified registrar now to get your pre-registration process under way. Pre-registration isn’t hard; you just have to pay attention to the timetable. If you do nothing, your domain will go back on the open market. Think of all the hard work you’ll already put into promoting your site and how aggravating it would be to have to start from scratch with a new domain name!

Have a Comment or Question? If you have a question you would like to ask, a topic you would like to see discussed, a favorite resource you want to share, or a comment you want to make, I'd like to hear from you. Email me at sbinfocanada.guide@about.com.