Glossary
Administrative Contact: This is the main point of contact for the management of a domain name, who has control over the domain name. The Administrative Contact can either be the Registrant of the domain name or someone authorized by the Registrant.
Authorization Code (auth code): An Authorization Code (auth code) is a code provided to a Registrant of a .CA domain name by their Registrar. The auth code is required to perform some management tasks for your .CA domain name, for example transferring your domain name to another Registrar.
Auto-renewal: .CA domain names are registered for a specified period of time up to 10 years. Upon its expiry, the domain name is automatically renewed for one year provided that the Registrar has sufficient funds in its deposit account, and keeps renewing each year, unless the Registrant has specified otherwise.
Auto-renew Grace Period: This is a 45-day grace period following the auto-renewal of a domain name where a Registrar can delete the domain name and obtain a refund of the fee charged by CIRA for the renewal of the domain name.
Country Code Top-level Domain (ccTLD): A country code top-level domain is a two letter suffix for Internet domain names that corresponds to a country, territory, or geographic location. .CA is the ccTLD for Canada.
CIRA Member: CIRA is a member-driven organization. Members elect CIRA’s Board of Directors and participate in other CIRA governance-related activities. Membership in CIRA is free and open to all .CA Registrants, through a simple application process.
CIRA's Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP): CIRA's CDRP is a forum to deal with cases of bad faith registration of .CA domain names. More information on the CDRP is available here.
Domain name: A string of words used to identify computer addresses on the Internet. ‘cira.ca’ is an example of a domain name.
Domain Name System (DNS): The Internet service that translates domain names, such as cira.ca, into IP addresses, such as 192.228.29.1, in order that computers can communicate with each other. The DNS underpins the functionality of the Internet.
Generic Top-level Domain (gTLD): A generic top-level domain is a suffix attached to Internet domain names, made up of three or more letters that identifies it as associated with a domain class. Common examples are .com, .net, .org, and .biz.
Internet: A global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to communicate with each other.
IP address: A unique number that identifies a computer and its location on the Internet. These numbers correspond to domain names. For example, the IP address 192.228.29.1 is associated with the domain name cira.ca.
Redemption Grace Period: When a domain name is deleted during the Auto-Renew Grace Period, there is then a 30-day period called the Grace Redemption Period where the domain name can be redeemed and renewed. During this period, the domain name is suspended, meaning that any websites or email addresses associated with it will not work.
Registrar: A Registrar is a person or organization that registers and manages .CA domain names on behalf of their customers. Registrars are the main point of contact for .CA Registrants in the management of their .CA domain names.
Registrant: A person or organization that has registered a .CA domain name.
Registry: A database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. CIRA runs the registry for .CA domain names. A registry operator, such as CIRA, is the part of the DNS that generates the zone files which convert domain names to IP addresses.
To be Released (TBR): When a registration for a particular domain name eis deleted by a Registrant and is not redeemed during the Redemption Grace Period, it becomes available through the TBR Process. During the TBR session, authorized Registrars, acting on behalf of a Registrant, have the opportunity to register deleted domain names on the TBR list. If a domain name is not registered during the TBR session, it is then made available for registration.
Top-level Domain (TLD): The suffix attached to Internet domain names, such as .CA.