May was the biggest month ever for .ca domain name registrations with 54,129 domain names registered, an increase of 38 percent over May 2019 when 39,319 were registered according to data from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) released today. It was the biggest single month for .ca registrations since CIRA was founded in 1998.
It was also the second straight month of double-digit growth as April 2020 saw an increase of 28 percent over the previous year (40,922 to 52,196) and the best-ever two-month period with a total of 108,018 .ca domains registered.
“It is remarkable to see how Canadian businesses are adapting to a time of crisis. We are seeing thousands of companies across Canada embracing e-commerce, curb-side pickup and other new business models that leverage the power of the internet,” said Byron Holland, president and CEO, Canadian Internet Registration Authority. “With so many economic indicators heading downward, we’re excited to see that the online economy is playing a huge role in keeping Canada working.”
The province that recorded the most registrations was Ontario, who recorded 47 percent of all .ca registrations over the two-month period, followed by British Columbia (18%) and Quebec (15%).
The surge in registrations comes on the back of the lockdown in Canada that has seen many workers working from home and hundreds of Canadian businesses and organisations launching online with .ca domains over the past few months, along with new ideas and services from existing ones.
According to an informal poll of 213 .ca registrants conducted by CIRA over the two-month period, 40 percent were creating a new business website; 15 percent were building an e-commerce website; and 17 percent were creating a personal website.