.ca · Canada
Can a foreigner register a .ca domain?
Not directly. CIRA requires every .ca registrant to meet one of the Canadian Presence Requirements: a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, a Canadian-incorporated or registered entity, an Indigenous group, a Canadian government body, or the owner of a trademark registered in Canada.
- Registry
- CIRA
- EEA address enough
- No
- Trustee route
- Available
- Policy
- Canadian Presence Requirements v1.3
There is no exception for a residential address, a Canadian bank account or Canadian customers. You need to fit one of CIRA's roughly eighteen presence categories. The two realistic routes for an outside company are a Canadian trademark, or a trustee that holds the domain as an eligible Canadian entity.
The rules below are drawn from CIRA's Canadian Presence Requirements for Registrants, version 1.3, and CIRA's Registrant Agreement and Registrant Information Validation (RIV) process.
The shortcut
See which providers hold a .ca domain as an eligible Canadian entity
Open the provider directoryWho can hold a .ca domain
The Canadian Presence Requirements are a closed list of categories. Meeting any one of them is enough; meeting none of them means you cannot be the registrant.
The categories that matter for most buyers
- Canadian citizen, ordinarily resident in Canada or not.
- Permanent resident of Canada.
- Corporation incorporated under Canadian federal or provincial law.
- Partnership, trust, association or trade union constituted under Canadian law.
- Trademark registered in Canada, where the domain is the exact word portion of the mark.
- Indigenous peoples and bands, Canadian government bodies, educational institutions, libraries, archives, museums and hospitals, each with its own definition.
A branch is not enough on its own
The numbers that bound it
~18
Canadian Presence categories in the CPR list
Exact match
How closely a domain must match a Canadian trademark to qualify
RIV
CIRA's post-registration validation process
Any time
When CIRA may ask for proof of presence
Side by side
The Canadian trademark route
A trademark registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (not merely applied for, and not a foreign registration) is a presence category in its own right. The catch is scope: the domain must consist of, or include as its dominant element, the exact word portion of the registered mark. A design mark with no claimed words does not help, and a domain that only alludes to the mark does not qualify.
The mark has to exist first
What CIRA's policy says about trustees
CIRA does not prohibit a registrant holding a domain for a third party, and a licensee model is common. What CIRA does require is that the registrant of record itself meets a presence category, and that the registration data is accurate.
The registrant must qualify in its own right
Under the Registrant Agreement the party named as registrant must meet the CPR at registration and keep meeting it. A trustee that is a Canadian corporation satisfies this; you, as the beneficiary, do not need to.
RIV can ask for evidence
CIRA's Registrant Information Validation process can require the registrant to prove the category it claimed. Failure to validate can lead to suspension and cancellation. A trustee has to be able to pass that check.
Ownership sits with the registrant
The domain is held by the registrant of record. Your rights against the trustee are contractual. CIRA will act on instructions from the registrant, not from a beneficiary who is not on the record.
Read the licence agreement
Transfer and exit
A .ca domain moves by a transfer of registrant, authorised through the registrar. The incoming registrant must meet a presence category.
- You must have your own Canadian presence, or name another eligible holder.
- The trustee, as outgoing registrant, must authorise the transfer.
- The domain must be unlocked and outside the 60-day post-transfer lock.
How registration works
You apply through a CIRA-certified registrar
Registration is registrar-only, first come first served, with acceptance of the Registrant Agreement and a declared CPR category. CIRA does not assess your right to a string at registration.
The declared category
You pick your presence category at checkout. Declaring one you do not hold is a breach of the Registrant Agreement and a ground for cancellation if RIV catches it.
Name format
A .ca label is 1 to 63 characters using letters, digits and hyphens, with French-accented internationalised characters supported. Some names, including certain geographic and government terms, are reserved.
What the public lookup shows
CIRA's Whois withholds personal contact information for individual registrants by default, showing it only for organisations or with consent. Under a trustee arrangement the trustee, as an organisation, is shown in full. That is a consequence of the trustee being the registrant, not a privacy feature you are buying.
If you have no Canadian presence: two routes
Incorporate in Canada or register a trademark
A federal or provincial corporation gives you an unrestricted presence category and is the clean route if you are doing business in Canada. A Canadian trademark works where the domain matches the mark and you are prepared to wait for registration.
Use a trustee
Faster and cheaper up front. The trustee is a Canadian entity that holds the domain and licenses its use to you. Compare providers that cover .ca.
Before you pay anyone
Check a provider's licence and exit terms before you hand over a .ca domain
Open the provider directoryKeep reading
Frequently asked questions
Can a US company register a .ca domain?
Not directly. It would need a Canadian subsidiary or other Canadian entity, a Canadian registered trademark matching the domain, or a trustee.
Is a Canadian mailing address or phone number enough?
No. The Canadian Presence Requirements are about legal status, not contact details. An address alone ticks no category.
What is RIV and can it take my domain?
Registrant Information Validation is CIRA's process for asking a registrant to prove the presence category it claimed. A registrant that does not validate can have the domain suspended and then cancelled.
Can I move a .ca domain out of a trustee's name later?
Yes, once you hold your own presence category and the trustee authorises the transfer of registrant. The constraint is the licence contract, not CIRA.
Sources
Last updated September 2026. Registry policies change. If you spot something out of date, email [email protected].