Amy ElderkinCIRA’s migration to the EPP platform, which occurred almost 1 year ago in October of 2010, made some significant changes to how the .CA domain is handled in many regards. Since many customers still have questions about these changes, we thought it would be worthwhile to have a look at how most registrants were affected by the switch:
• CIRA logins and passwords – These have been abolished and are no longer used to confirm or reject any type of process
• .CA Registrar Transfers – These are now submitted in the exact same fashion as .COM, .NET and other domain extensions; by unlocking the domain at the current registrar and obtaining the authorization code. However, unlike other transfers that can take a week to complete, .CA transfers will complete in real time if the authorization code is correct and the domain is unlocked. As always, an additional year is added to the domain’s term as a result of the transfer. Learn more about Registrar Transfers.
• .CA Registrant Transfers – These can be submitted through the Webnames.ca website free of charge now, since they no longer extend the domain’s term by an additional year. If the domain’s current registrant and future registrant reside within the same Webnames.ca account, no paperwork is necessary. However, if the domain is being transferred to a new account as well, there is a form that must be completed and signed off by the current and future registrants. Learn more about Registrant Transfers.
• The 60 Day Rule – A completely new rule for .CA’s. Domains now go on a 60 day “lockdown” upon new registration, registrar transfer, or registrant transfer. This prevents any .CA domain from going through an additional registrar or registrant transfer for 60 days after such an event. For new registrations, there is an additional 5 days holding period, bringing the total to 65.
• The domain “lifecycle” has changed significantly. Domains are no longer suspended by CIRA upon expiry, and are instead “auto-renewed”. 35 days into this “auto-renew grace” period, Webnames.ca sends CIRA a deletion request for said domain, which is done in the event that the domain is not renewed by the registrant. The domain is then placed in “redemption” for a period of 30 days (domain is renewable), followed by a “pending delete” stage of 5 days (domain is NOT renewable). After that, the domain goes to TBR (To Be Released), and these domains are released by CIRA every Wednesday. You can Pre-Register your favourite TBR domains with Webnames.ca
• CIRA Privacy – CIRA still supports their own free privacy services for registrants who are individuals. Where previously this could be changed by logging into one’s CIRA account, this service can now only be modified by contacting your registrar of record.
Have any other questions about these updates? We are always here to help. Call Customer Support at 1-866-221-7878 for more information.