Establishing a Canadian presence early helps prevent potential disputes over domain ownership and aligns with an IP professional’s duty to support clients in safeguarding their intellectual property and brand integrity on all fronts, says Adam Eisner, vice-president of .CA and Registry Services at CIRA, the not-for-profit that manages Canada’s flagship internet top-level domain (TLD).
“Here’s the thing: domain names generally aren’t all that expensive,” Eisner notes, adding that he encourages all Canadian companies as a best practice to register both a .CA and a .com domain to prevent a competitor from scooping up the unclaimed version.
“It’s never a bad idea—think of it as cheap insurance,” he adds.
The value proposition of .CA
Outside of the dispute angle, there are a myriad of reasons to encourage a business to register a .CA domain. Connecting a .CA domain to a website or online store provides an opportunity to tailor messaging to a Canadian audience, highlight Canadian pricing and shipping rates for a trustworthy e-commerce experience, link to branded email or social media profiles that illustrate a business’ unique online identity, and can even help it rank higher in local browser search rankings. In fact, according to a recent study by The Strategic Counsel, 85% of Canadians prefer a .CA over a .com when supporting local businesses.
“Canadians are attracted to .CA more than any other domain name,” Eisner confirms. “If there’s a .CA in your browser, you can expect a connection to Canada.”
