<s>
.ca	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
Internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
for	O
Canada	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
that	O
operates	O
it	O
is	O
the	O
Canadian	O
Internet	O
Registration	O
Authority	O
(	O
CIRA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Registrants	O
of	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
domains	O
must	O
meet	O
the	O
Canadian	O
Presence	O
Requirements	O
as	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
registry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
domain	O
was	O
registered	O
by	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Prince	O
Edward	O
Island	O
in	O
January	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
Canadian	O
annual	O
Internet	O
conference	O
in	O
Halifax	O
,	O
Nova	O
Scotia	O
,	O
the	O
Canadian	O
Internet	O
community	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
view	O
to	O
liberalize	O
registration	O
procedures	O
and	O
substantially	O
improve	O
turnaround	O
times	O
,	O
decided	O
to	O
undertake	O
reform	O
of	O
the	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
Registry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Canadian	O
Internet	O
Registration	O
Authority	O
(	O
CIRA	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
non-profit	O
Canadian	O
corporation	O
that	O
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
operating	O
the	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
Internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
Top	O
Level	O
Domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
assumed	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
ccTLD	B-Application
on	O
December	O
1	O
,	O
2000	O
,	O
from	O
UBC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
15	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
CIRA	O
registered	O
its	O
one	O
millionth	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
Internet	O
domain	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
registration	O
has	O
to	O
be	O
ordered	O
via	O
a	O
certified	O
registrar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nationally	O
incorporated	O
companies	O
could	O
have	O
a	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
domain	O
,	O
while	O
provincially	O
incorporated	O
companies	O
required	O
the	O
letters	O
of	O
their	O
province	O
,	O
like	O
.mb.ca	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
an	O
entity	O
with	O
presence	O
in	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
provinces	O
was	O
typically	O
registered	O
directly	O
under	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
;	O
this	O
complex	O
structure	O
(	O
and	O
the	O
long	O
delays	O
in	O
getting	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
registration	O
)	O
caused	O
many	O
Canadian	O
entities	O
to	O
favour	O
the	O
.com	O
,	O
.org	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
registrations	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
then-higher	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
listed	O
parties	O
can	O
register	O
a	O
domain	O
with	O
a	O
name	O
of	O
their	O
choosing	O
followed	O
directly	O
by	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
gc.ca	O
is	O
actually	O
a	O
standard	O
domain	O
like	O
all	O
other	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
domain	O
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.mil.ca	O
suffix	O
is	O
used	O
internally	O
by	O
DND	O
on	O
its	O
intranet	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
Defence	O
Information	O
Network	O
(	O
DIN	O
)	O
or	O
Defence	O
Wide	O
Area	O
Network	O
(	O
DWAN	O
)	O
,	O
to	O
distinguish	O
intranet-only	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internationalized	B-Language
domain	I-Language
names	I-Language
(	O
IDN	O
)	O
were	O
introduced	O
in	O
January	O
2013	O
with	O
a	O
limited	O
selection	O
of	O
characters	O
( é	O
,	O
ë	O
,	O
ê	O
,	O
è	O
,	O
â	O
,	O
à	O
,	O
æ	O
,	O
ô	O
,	O
œ	O
,	O
ù	O
,	O
û	O
,	O
ü	O
,	O
ç	O
,	O
î	O
,	O
ï	O
,	O
ÿ	O
)	O
to	O
allow	O
French	O
language	O
text	O
with	O
diacritics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Names	O
which	O
differ	O
only	O
in	O
diacritical	O
accents	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
metro.ca	O
and	O
métro.ca	O
)	O
must	O
have	O
the	O
same	O
owner	O
and	O
same	O
registrar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain	O
names	O
that	O
begin	O
with	O
the	O
four	O
characters	O
xn--	B-Language
are	O
otherwise	O
not	O
available	O
for	O
registration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Length	O
must	O
be	O
2-63	O
characters	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
xn--	B-Language
prefix	O
encoding	B-General_Concept
for	O
internationalised	B-Language
domain	I-Language
names	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Names	O
which	O
match	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
an	O
existing	O
generic	O
three-letter	O
top	O
level	O
domain	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
.com.ca	O
)	O
or	O
the	O
Canadian	O
top	O
level	O
country	O
code	O
(	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
)	O
are	O
reserved	O
and	O
therefore	O
not	O
available	O
for	O
new	O
registrations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
handful	O
of	O
existing	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
registered	O
names	O
as	O
short	O
as	O
two	O
characters	O
in	O
length	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
tend	O
to	O
be	O
rare	O
as	O
two-letter	O
combinations	O
matching	O
any	O
existing	O
country-code	B-Application
TLDs	I-Application
were	O
reserved	O
in	O
the	O
past	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Names	O
which	O
exist	O
at	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
levels	O
(	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
,	O
an	O
individual	O
province	O
or	O
territory	O
,	O
or	O
an	O
individual	O
city	O
)	O
are	O
blocked	O
in	O
their	O
availability	O
elsewhere	O
in	O
the	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Registration	O
,	O
if	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
at	O
all	O
,	O
requires	O
manual	O
intervention	O
by	O
the	O
prospective	O
registrar	B-Application
as	O
the	O
permission	O
of	O
all	O
existing	O
registrant(s )	O
must	O
be	O
obtained	O
by	O
CIRA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
province	O
of	O
New	O
Brunswick	O
were	O
to	O
want	O
to	O
register	O
"	O
gouv.nb.ca	O
 "	O
,	O
CIRA	O
's	O
normal	O
automated	O
WHOIS	B-Protocol
and	O
registration	O
tools	O
would	O
simply	O
return	O
the	O
following	O
error	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Ontario	B-Architecture
,	O
Prince	O
Edward	O
Island	O
and	O
Quebec	O
already	O
use	O
"	O
gouv	O
"	O
on	O
their	O
provincial	O
second-level	O
domains	O
for	O
the	O
French-language	O
versions	O
of	O
their	O
government	O
websites	O
,	O
this	O
domain	O
is	O
unavailable	O
through	O
the	O
normal	O
registration	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Existing	O
third-level	O
domain	O
registrants	O
looking	O
to	O
obtain	O
the	O
corresponding	O
second-level	O
domain	O
are	O
normally	O
advised	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
same	O
initial	O
registrar	B-Application
for	O
both	O
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
names	O
are	O
made	O
available	O
through	O
a	O
weekly	O
auction	O
process	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
lists	O
of	O
available	O
names	O
are	O
posted	O
online	O
and	O
advance	O
bids	O
are	O
placed	O
by	O
prospective	O
registrants	O
through	O
the	O
various	O
.ca	B-General_Concept
registrars	O
.	O
</s>
