Everything you always wanted to know about Canada’s domain
Welcome to the third edition of the .CA Insights report—a deep dive into the world of the .CA domain, examining data from September – December 2021. Find out how many .CA domains are registered, what the top visited .CA websites are, where most of the .CA holders are in Canada and much more!
Our eye is on Northwest Territories this edition—learn how digital literacy and Canadian domains may be connected in more ways than you think.
More than ever, Canadians are choosing a .CA domain name for their local businesses as it is the only domain name that identifies a website as 100% Canadian. Happy exploring!
Table of contents
- Everything you always wanted to know about Canada’s domain
- .CA domains under management
- Trends in domain registration keywords
- Provincial index
- Spotlight: Northwest Territories
- Top visited .CA websites in Canada
- Status of .CA domains
- CMS* platforms used by .CA domains
- .CA domains—the long and short of it
- .CA domain security
- Badness index ranking
- Aftermarket—top .CA resales
- To Be Released
About the data
This report is created using a combination of .CA Registry data, third-party vendors and publicly available data.
.CA Registry data is accumulated through the collection of Registrant data. A Registrant is defined as any person who registers a .CA domain name with CIRA. This information is presented anonymously and in aggregate within this report.
Third-party vendor data is provided to CIRA through proprietary agreements and is presented anonymously and in aggregate within this report.
Links to all publicly available data are provided within the report.
- Provincial index figures are estimations. They are calculated using Statistics Canada estimates for provincial populations and the approximate number of domains per province at the time of the report’s release.
- Provincial populations are estimated by Statistics Canada. For more information on Statistics Canada methodology, please visit its website.
Number of domains is rounded to the nearest thousand to account for changes in the data. This data represents an approximation of the current number of domains in each province.
Domain status and CMS usage are an estimation of the approximate percentage of domains associated with each category. This information is provided through our third-party vendor, DataProvider.
.CA domains under management
Trends in domain registration keywords
Here are some trends in the top ranked keywords of .CA domain registrations this quarter:
Ecommerce
Canadian businesses are choosing .CA for their online stores more than ever before.
Keywords: business, shop, products, services
Local
.CA owners are proud to show off where they’re from online, and who can blame them?
Keywords: Canada, BC, Toronto, Ontario
Connected
Canadians are taking advantage of online communities to keep in touch during the pandemic.
Keywords: news, community, blog, follow
Provincial index
Spotlight: Northwest Territories
The connection between internet access and .CA domain registrations in northern Canada
When comparing Yellowknife to the remainder of the Northwest Territories, we can see the gap that exists in terms of the amount of .CA domains registered. Specifically, Yellowknife is over-represented at 81 .CA domains registered for every 1000 people and the rest of the territory is underrepresented at only 25 domains per 1000 people, compared to the Northwest Territory average of 52 domains per 1000 people.
We talked to Kyle Napier, communications coordinator for DigitalNWT, a digital literacy group working to make the case for more affordable and equitable Internet access in the N.W.T, to get his take on the data. He believes there is a clear correlation between domains registered and the equity issues that still exist in the North.
“But that’s why you are seeing more domains registered in these communities. They also have higher access to digital literacy because of that. When you talk about the digital divide, it’s not only about access issues, it’s about how people are able to use internet.” says Napier
DigitalNWT and CIRA have partnered to use CIRA’s Internet Performance Test to provide neutral data on the exact access speeds N.W.T. residents are experiencing. According to Napier, DigitalNWT has found that 28 of the territory’s 33 communities are underserved in regard to digital connectivity and broadband internet access.
It turns out, the distribution of registered .CA domains, as well as Internet Performance Testing (IPT), may provide a view into the landscape of a whole host of issues including internet access, usage, digital literacy and equity in those communities.
“There are communities who can’t even take the CIRA internet performance test because the low bandwidth version isn’t available. That tells me a lot about where the work really needs to get done. That really reveals who doesn’t have access and who remains without equitable participation to digital spaces. In an age where COVID necessitates tele health, tele education, and e-commerce… the concern shouldn’t be ‘can you hear me?’ it should be ‘can we meet and work towards our common goals?’” says Napier.
Napier knows from experience that underserved and underrepresented communities are at risk of falling behind. Tools are always evolving, and residents are further excluded from digital opportunities if they aren’t given access to the digital technologies that enable culturally adapted participation online. “One concern I have is, by the time the community catches up to access, the online environment will be dominated by a hegemonic worldview that doesn’t represent their community, and it will be an uphill battle to create our own digital resources on our own terms,” says Napier.
Top visited .CA websites in Canada
Status of .CA domains
CMS* platforms used by .CA domains
.CA domains—the long and short of it
.CA domain security
68.3%
of active .CA domains have an SSL certificate.(+2% from Q3) Source: DataProvider, January 2022
1.9%
of all .CA domains have DNSSEC.(+11% from Q3) Source: .CA Registry Data.
Badness index ranking
Aftermarket—top .CA resales
Here were some of the top publicly announced sales from the quarter:
uof.ca
$23,500
qualify.ca
$9,000
cashforscrap.ca
$8,100
Interested in obtaining a domain that’s already registered?
Learn more about how to navigate the .CA domain aftermarket.
Note: All prices are in USD.
Source: Namebio.com, October – December 2021.
To Be Released
To Be Released (TBR) is the process by which CIRA releases all deleted .CA domains back for general registration, often referred to as “the drop” in the domain industry.
9,293
Total domains currently in TBR (as of February 15, 2022) Source: TBR (updated weekly)
2,289
Domains registered in TBR sessions (October – December 2021) Source: .CA Registry Data.
Get the .CA you’ve always wanted.
If a domain you want is expiring soon, check out our TBR list.
