.CA

Name: .CA — TLD Knowledge Base
Creator: CIRA

Canada

CIRA · ccTLD · Updated 2026-09-10

Conditional

Specifications

Zone: .ca
Registration: Real-time
Registration period: 1-10 years
Character length: 1-63
IDN: Yes
DNSSEC: Yes
IPv6: Yes
Nameservers: 2-8 nameservers
Transfer lock: Yes
Renewal on transfer: Yes
Transfer time: Immediate
Auth code format: CIRA password
Redemption period: 30 d
Handle updates: Yes
WHOIS update: Real-time
WHOIS server: whois.cira.ca
Connection: Direct
Data set: ccTLD
IDN character sets: ISO_8859_1
Auth code: Yes

Eligibility & Restrictions

Canadian Presence Required (CPR). Registrant must select one of 18 CPR categories: Canadian citizen, permanent resident, Canadian corporation, Canadian trademark holder, etc. Trustee services NOT permitted by CIRA.

Trustee services NOT permitted by CIRA. Registrant must genuinely meet CPR. CIRA conducts Registrant Information Validation (RIV) audits; failure = deletion within ~2 months.

Registration

1-10 years. Transfer adds 1 year.

Transfer Procedure

Auth code (CIRA password) required. Transfer completes immediately (unusual for ccTLD). 65-day transfer lock after registration (not standard 60 days). IDN variants: every variant must be transferred simultaneously or transfer fails.

Registrant Change

During transfer: registrant first name, last name, organisation cannot be changed. Must update after transfer completes.

Renewal & Deletion

40-day renewal grace period after expiry. No redemption fee.

Restore / Redemption Grace Period

40-day renewal grace period. No redemption fee. 'To Be Released' process after grace period.

WHOIS / Privacy

Individuals: WHOIS privacy auto-applied at registry level (name/address hidden). Corporations: WHOIS data public.

NIS2 Compliance

N/A. Canada not subject to EU NIS2.

Known Error Codes & Notes

65-day lock: 65-day lock (not 60) after registration. Common surprise.
IDN variants: All IDN variants must transfer simultaneously. Partial transfer fails.
CPR failure: CPR validation failure = domain deletion after 60-day RIV audit process.
No trustee: Trustee services NOT permitted by CIRA.

Data controllers

Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Autorité Canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet (ACEI) (org) 979 Bank Street, Suite 400, Ottawa ON K1S 5K5, Canada
CIRA — Chief Information Officer (admin) 979 Bank Street, Suite 400, Ottawa ON K1S 5K5, Canada

Error codes

EF00803
EF01017
EF03059
EF01015
EF03074
EF01095
EF01074
EF03075
EF03070
EF03072
EF0103118
EF03071
EF03009
EF01008
EF01009
EF01002
EF03067
EF03066
EF01066
EF03069
EF011278
EF03068
EF03063
EF03062
EF03065
EF03064
EF03061
EF03060

Restrictions

Costs arise for failed domain registrations.
Local domain owner (OwnerC) required (office/residence).
Local domain administrator (AdminC) required.
Company number (companies) or ID card number (individuals) required.

Root nameservers

C.CA-SERVERS.CA
J.CA-SERVERS.CA
ANY.CA-SERVERS.CA
D.CA-SERVERS.CA

Tasks (API)

restore · available · chargeable · manual
restoreNE · available · automatic
update · available · automatic
updateStatus · available · automatic
create · available · chargeable · automatic
restoreARGP · available · automatic
preack · available · automatic
transfer · available · chargeable · automatic · AuthInfo required
restoreRenew · available · automatic
delete · available · automatic
whoisRegistryStatus · available · automatic
renew · available · chargeable · automatic

API

Domain Create

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain

{
  "name": "example.ca",
  "ownerc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "adminc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "techc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "nameServers": [
    {
      "name": "ns1.example.com"
    },
    {
      "name": "ns2.example.com"
    }
  ],
  "confirmOrder": false,
  "extensions": {
    "ca": {
      "cprCategory": "",
      "agreementVersion": ""
    }
  }
}

⚠ CPR mandatory. Trustee NOT permitted. 65-day lock (not 60).

Domain Transfer

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/_transfer

{
  "name": "example.ca",
  "auth": "(AUTH_CODE)"
}

⚠ Completes immediately. IDN variants must all transfer simultaneously.

Create AuthInfo1

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/example.ca/_authinfo1

CIRA password.

Domain Restore

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/example.ca/_restore

⚠ 40-day grace. No redemption fee.

TLD Extension Parameters

extensions.ca.cprCategory: string — Canadian Presence Requirement category (1 of 18).
extensions.ca.agreementVersion: string — CIRA Registrant Agreement version accepted.