Canada's own ending
.ca has been Canada's country-code TLD since 1987. It's managed by CIRA, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, a member-based not-for-profit that took over from the University of British Columbia in 2000.
Unlike many ccTLDs, .ca isn't open to everyone: registrants must meet CIRA's Canadian Presence Requirements. For U.S. companies, the most common route is a Canadian subsidiary or a trademark registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. In return, Canadians see .ca as a reliable sign that a site is actually Canadian.
Good for
- Canadian businesses, nonprofits and individuals
- U.S. brands with a Canadian subsidiary or registered Canadian trademark
Watch out for
- You must meet the Canadian Presence Requirements
.ca by the numbers
.ca is the internet country code for Canada. It's one of North America's ccTLDs, the two-letter domains reserved for countries and territories.
A little context on Canada: the capital is Ottawa, languages include English and French, the currency is the Canadian dollar (CAD) and the international dialing code is +1.
Next door on the map, you'll find .us for United States.
IANA lists Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Autorité Canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet (ACEI) as the manager of .ca, with an address in Canada. The registry's website is http://www.cira.ca. ccTLD managers set their own policies — who can register, which second-level names exist, pricing to registrars — so those rules differ from country to country.
Under the hood, the root zone points to 4 name servers for .ca, every one of them reachable over IPv6. The delegation is DNSSEC-signed, so resolvers can verify that answers for .ca haven't been tampered with on the way. Registration data is published over RDAP and WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.cira.ca).
.ca vs other endings
.ca FAQ
Who can register a .ca domain?
Canadian citizens and permanent residents, organizations registered in Canada, and a few other groups — including owners of a trademark registered in Canada (for that name).
Who runs .ca?
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a not-for-profit.
What country is .ca?
.ca is the country-code top-level domain for Canada, in North America.
What is Canada's domain extension?
Canada's website extension is .ca, its country-code top-level domain. "CA" is its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code.
Is .ca DNSSEC-signed?
Yes. The root zone has a DS record for .ca, so DNSSEC validation works all the way down from the root.
How do I look up who owns a .ca domain?
Query the registry's registration data service: the WHOIS server is whois.cira.ca, and RDAP lookups go to https://rdap.ca.fury.ca/rdap/. Many registrants use privacy services, so personal details may be hidden.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed October 21, 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
