Webnames.ca Staff
As we wind down 2025 and look toward 2026, the domain landscape feels both familiar and gradually transforming. On the surface, the big players haven’t changed much. .COM still dominates and ccTLDs (country-code domains) continue to hold maximum trust locally. But underneath that stability, there’s been some movement in how businesses seem to be thinking about naming, identity, and risk.
This past year made one thing clear: smaller brands are realizing that domains are not just web addresses. Domains are signals of credibility, geography, values, and increasingly, security. We are seeing organizations of all sizes take a closer look at how their domains are registered, managed, and protected, and not just where they point.
2025 Domain Themes: Legacy Trust vs. Innovative Identity
The tried and true TLD leaders hold steady
Traditional top-level domains like .com, .org and to a lesser degree, .net, continued to carry the most weight in 2025. That’s not surprising because for global brands and established organizations, these extensions still communicate legitimacy and are widely trusted.
- .com remains the default for international business and brand recognition
- .org holds its trusted place among non-profits, community groups, and mission-driven organizations
- .net continues to resonate with technology, infrastructure, and network-focused services, however it’s dominance is getting chipped away by a variety of tech relevant alternatives
For many enterprises, these domains still form the backbone of their portfolios, combined with ccTLDs in the countries they operate.
TLDs that showed momentum in 2025
What did stand out in 2025 was the continued rise of new and more niche TLD, especially in tech focused industries.
- .ai continued to dominate as the defining TLD for innovation and artificial intelligence
- .io stayed popular with startups and SaaS businesses
- .xyz continued gaining traction in Web3 and creative spaces
- .shop, .store, and .online supported ecommerce growth
- .app, .cloud, and .live helped businesses convey what they do
Many organizations adopted these newer TLDs in addition to their primary domains for product launches, campaigns, and a wide range of other initiatives. When done intentionally, this approach can strengthen branding while still keeping core domains locked down and protected.
Country-code domains held their ground
Strong ccTLDs registrations globally continued with .ca, .de, .uk, .nl, cn, and .br reinforcing the importance of identifying as local. Other ccTLDs that saw steady growth included .in, .fr and .au, in addition to .tk (Tokelau), unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons – namely fraud.
For international businesses, the popularity of ccTLDs has meant expanding ccTLD coverage of their core brands, especially those with global reach and ensuring those domains are monitored, renewed, and secured at the same standard as their flagship .com or .ca’s .
.CA Matters More Than Ever and .QUEBEC Continues to Grow
.CA in Canada during 2025 experienced another year of steady growth, hitting 3.4 million domains under management by year’s end. Much of that momentum came early in the year, driven by strong Buy Canadian, Canada First, and Elbows Up sentiment among Canadians.
.CA instantly signals Canadian presence and credibility, something that Canadian shoppers prioritized in 2025. It also indicates a business is likely operating under Canadian laws and privacy standards, which reinforces a sense of security for many consumers.
Alongside .CA, .quebec continues to play an important and complementary role, particularly for organizations with a meaningful presence in Québec. More than just a regional domain, .quebec shows close cultural, language, and identity affiliation with Québécois audiences.
A distinction of .quebec is its support for Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), allowing businesses to register domains that include French accents and characters. This makes it possible for businesses, organizations and brands to reflect real-world language online, improving clarity, inclusivity, and resonance with local audiences.
For Canadian businesses with operations in Québec, holding both .CA and .quebec domains is increasingly a best practice. Together they balance national trust with regional relevance, meeting customers where they are both linguistically and culturally.
What’s Ahead in Domain Names for 2026
As we move into 2026, it looks like more of the same, with sprinkles of novelty and culltural specificity. Of course .COM and .CA remain essential for Canadian organizations, but they will increasingly be supported by:
- Industry-specific TLDs like .ai
- ccTLDs for expanding markets
- Defensive registrations, domain blocking services and domain monitoring to prevent brand abuse across hundreds of additional TLDs
We also expect domain portfolios to continue expanding and strategic organizations and businesses to continue centralizing their portfolios with security conscious registrars like Webnames and Webnames Corporate, particularly mid-sized and enterprise organizations.
2026 Recommendations: Security is Everything
As domain strategies evolve, so do the risks, and domain security continues to be inseparable from brand protection.
At a minimum, organizations should ensure:
- Account & access security
Use strong passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and review account activity regularly. These simple steps prevent many common takeover attempts. - Domain locks for critical assets
Registrar and Registry Locks are essential for business critical domains. - Expiry protection
Accidental expiration is still one of the most common and avoidable causes of domain loss and brand impersonation. No-expiry policies can eliminate that risk entirely for core brand domains. - DNS and email safeguards
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and CAA records help prevent phishing, spoofing, and unauthorized SSL certificates, safeguarding both your brand and your customers. - Ongoing monitoring and audits
Regular portfolio reviews, security scans, and monitoring for lookalike domains help catch issues early — before they escalate.
The takeaways for 2026 are straightforward:
If a domain actively represents your brand, it deserves active protection.
Consolidating your domain name portfolio with a security conscious registrar pays dividends for your business and brand security.
Final Thoughts
2025 was a continuation of brands refining how they use domain names to signal trust, innovation, and values.
As we head into 2026, we want to advocate that businesses treat domains as the strategic assets and infrastructure that needs to be managed centrally, secured properly, and aligned with your brand’s longterm goals. For Canadian organizations, that continues to include investing in .CA as both a trust signal and a competitive advantage.
Whether you’re managing a single domain or a global portfolio, we want to be your partner in ensuring that it’s secure and supported by the best technology, tools and people in the business.