Fiscal Year 25 Annual Report to Members

A message from CIRA’s board chair

Members,

As this is my last letter to members as Board Chair, I want to take the opportunity to look back over the last seven years in which I have had the pleasure to be involved with CIRA, through the ideation, creation and execution of the recently completed strategic plan.

When the organization first considered the FY21-25 Strategic Plan nearly seven years ago, the world, and CIRA, were very different places. Growth for .CA was slowing, diversified services revenue was only just beginning to make an impact on the organization and internet policy was still a relatively niche area of focus.

We had yet to go through a global pandemic, AI was mostly confined to science fiction and geopolitical order was relatively stable.

A good strategic plan is flexible and forward-looking enough that it can accommodate for changes in the landscape. However, it is hard to overstate just how transformative the last few years have been.

Despite all the change the world has experienced, CIRA finished the FY21-25 Strategic Plan in good shape, having reached or exceeded its targets—setting the stage for the new strategic plan that will guide the organization for the next three years.

At the end of the most recent fiscal year, the final one of the previous strategic plan, there were 3.4 million .CA domains under management, representing a year-over-year growth rate of almost 1% outpacing the global ccTLD average of 0.3%. While the trend in global ccTLD growth has been slowing, the end of FY25 saw a marked increase in registrations which can be partially attributed to the rising “buy Canadian” sentiment brought on by the current trade challenges. The trend has continued into FY26, and CIRA is doing all it can to help Canadian businesses and individuals represent Canada online.

The cybersecurity team hit a significant milestone in FY25 with a successful trial of its most recent product, CIRA XDR, to a group of beta customers. The trial was well received and led to the full launch of CIRA XDR in early FY26, which is already generating interest and acclaim in the industry. CIRA XDR is a significant step forward for the organization’s portfolio, filling a critical role in the cybersecurity stack that will add value for customers and help provide another layer of protection for Canada’s institutions, infrastructure and businesses.

CIRA now protects nearly 7.5 million users across hospitals, schools, universities and businesses in Canada with its cybersecurity solutions, and blocked more than 80 million malicious queries per month in the last fiscal year across its various services.

FY25 also saw the evolution of the CIRA-SIDN partnership with the launch of a new brand: Hello Registry. The brand was unveiled at ICANN81 in Istanbul, and while I didn’t have the pleasure of attending in person, I heard about the energy and excitement from colleagues and friends in attendance, and the ripple effect for the Hello Registry Platform was felt at home. Significant technical progress was also made in FY25 towards the goal of migrating .NL onto the platform, which will represent a key milestone in the partnership once completed in 2026.

While CIRA has been a leader in the internet governance ecosystem for years, FY25 saw the organization take a significant step forward with the launch of A Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism (TCCM). TCCM is a coalition of technical operators from across the globe advocating for an evolved and strengthened multistakeholder approach to internet governance to keep the internet open, free, global, secure, resilient and interoperable for all. The group has surpassed 40 operators since the end of the fiscal year and is playing a unique role in the ongoing United Nation’s dialogue around the future of internet governance.

While CIRA’s accomplishments throughout the previous strategic plan, and in FY25, are significant, I am equally proud of the work we have done as a board to improve the way we work together.

In my two years as Chair, I have seen the Board make significant progress in the way we collaborate, and even in how we disagree. Much as CIRA was founded as a multistakeholder organization, the board itself is built on the multistakeholder model with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. A diversity of opinions is important on a board and, given the rapidly changing nature of the landscape CIRA is operating in, it is also essential to good decision making.

We have made some complex decisions as CIRA navigates the changing internet world, and I am grateful to all my colleagues for the candid, respectful and open conversations we have had.

CIRA’s new strategic plan, which will lead the organization into 2028, is already underway. It was developed through a nimble and agile process which included consultations with members, the board, staff, government representatives and industry leaders in keeping with the multistakeholder model. The foundation that was built in the previous strategic plan has set the organization up for success in challenging times.

With the annual general meeting approaching in September, I’d also like to take this opportunity to address our members directly. Your participation, feedback and advice are essential to CIRA’s mission. In the coming year, we are redoubling our efforts to engage with members and ensure your voices are heard.

Along with this letter, you will notice a form that invites you to provide feedback to the board. We want to hear your questions and suggestions on how to make membership more valuable and help CIRA achieve its mission. This form will remain open all year long and though we cannot act on every request, we will ensure every submission is read and that the Board has visibility on all feedback.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank CIRA staff and management for their efforts and dedication this past year. In particular, I would like to thank Byron Holland, CIRA’s President & CEO, who has provided invaluable feedback and support during my two years as Chair. I look forward to continuing to work with this incredible team to help build a trusted internet for Canadians.

– Jill Kowalchuk, Chair of CIRA’s Board of Directors

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