CIRA is raising prices (1.Viewing)

I guess it's on par with how we get screwed by our telecom companies, airlines, etc. Likely grocery stores too now but I'm not certain how our food prices compares worldwide.

domains said:

When you consider Trudeau is raising carbon taxes in 2023

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Our Immigration level is at a historic high for Western society, yet Trudeau still admonishes us for "producing too much carbon" then raising taxes because of it. Last year we added 1.2 million people to the roll call, yet he wants us to "hit the same targets" he set 5+ years ago

And no these targets are gross totals (that are somehow projected to go DOWN ), not per-capita averages.

Seems like increased carbon production by adding 1 million + new Canadians a year is a fait accompli for anyone who can do basic math.

Trudeau is that guy who adopts a couple of kids a year then yells at his wife for spending too much money on groceries.

Going up to $11.50 effective February 1, 2027.

lotsofcoffee said:

Going up to $11.50 effective February 1, 2027.

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With GREED being the only game in town, I was just waiting for this shoe to drop.

It's already hard enough to make money on .CA, and now we'll all owe '$1+registrar markup' extra a year on each and every domain we own. This will add up fast, and makes the Domain Math even rougher for investors to turn a profit. So I expect a lot of junk drops in 2027 and more domain investors leaving the market.

But at least the CIRA gets to give away even more of our money as charitable grants, thus virtue signaling to the world what good little boys they are.

DomainRecap said:

With GREED being the only game in town, I was just waiting for this shoe to drop.

It's already hard enough to make money on .CA, and now we'll all owe '$1+registrar markup' extra a year on each and every domain we own. This will add up fast, and makes the Domain Math even tougher for investors. So I expect a lot of junk drops in 2027 and more domain investors leaving the market.

But at least the CIRA gets to give away even more of our money as charitable grants, thus virtue signaling to the world what good little boys they are.

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I started dropping domains at the last two price increases, I used to keep small traffic domains but as pricing keeps creeping up the so does the amount I drop.

I have a yearly budget for renewals and when the pricing goes above that I simply drop the lower traffic domains until I get back into budget.

For CIRA that has no relevance because I am spending the same, the only place it hits them is on the quantity of domains registered.

They end up making more money new registrations so in the end it's a win for them regardless. Only thing for me is the amount of increase makes me look ahead and be far more selective what I register knowing the prices jump by a buck every year or so.

MapleDots said:

Only thing for me is the amount of increase makes me look ahead and be far more selective what I register knowing the prices jump by a buck every year or so.

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Agreed, and over time, the economics of running a large .CA portfolio will quickly become unsustainable for anything but premium names.

This isn't .COM, it's a tiny country-specific TLD targeting a microscopic market of only 3% of the number of businesses in just the United States, let alone the entire world. Totally different business policies and overall economics at work here.

I know in 2027, my "quality bar" for TBR will be moving up from where it is right now and I'll also be looking to cull some of my under-performing/loser domains. It's just a natural byproduct of .CA renewals jumping by 10-12% (or even higher depending on registrar) every few years.

MapleDots said:

For CIRA that has no relevance because I am spending the same, the only place it hits them is on the quantity of domains registered.

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I don't that's really true, as a CIRA price increase is designed to increase revenues (more charitable grants!) not to have them remain stagnant.

After all, the CIRA has drifted far from their humble registrar origins, and now pattern themselves as a combination of The United Way and Google, and that combo requires lots and lots of cash. If they're not giving our money away to various social justice scallywags, they're wasting it on development tools or other software.

Next up, CIRA Hosting! Nah, maybe not, as that might actually produce revenue and make their "oh woe is us!" cries of poverty fall on deaf political ears when they want to crank up .CA renewal prices again.

cira's cybersecurity and registry-platform ventures should finance themselves rather than being subsidized through higher .ca renewal fees

If it’s non profit and making a ton of cash …justify the increase in cost ? And why $1 why not .25 or something, pure greed , How and who came to this conclusion? Who oversees Cira ? Has anyone ever taken a deep look into the books?

https://www.cira.ca/uploads/2025/08/Canadian-Internet-Registration-Authority-fs25-signed.pdf

Take this with a grain of salt, as this is pure AI, nothing verified:

CIRA’s core operations did run a $1.91 million deficit in FY25: $42.64 million of operating revenue against $44.56 million of expenses. But that was largely because CIRA chose to spend:

• $4.35 million on its community investment program
• $3.67 million on communications, awareness and education
• $2.96 million on consulting
• $630,000 on travel
• $579,000 on staff training

Meanwhile, registration revenue itself rose from $32.15 million to $33.81 million, and salaries and benefits reached almost $20 million.


The bigger issue is the balance sheet. CIRA had:

• $46.8 million in investments
• $3.5 million cash
• $25 million in net assets
• $4 million of annual investment income

Its investment portfolio increased by nearly $6 million in one year. That is a substantial reserve for an organization managing a mature, predictable registry with millions of recurring renewals.


The reported $10.74 million surplus is somewhat misleading because $9.94 million came from transferring the Fury registry platform to a jointly owned company. That was largely an accounting gain rather than $9.94 million of fresh cash. But even after stripping that out, investment income more than covered its operating deficit.

My verdict​

No, CIRA cannot credibly say it needs a price increase to preserve the stability of the .CA registry.


A more accurate explanation would be:

CIRA wants more revenue to support its expanding staff, cybersecurity businesses, grants, marketing, consulting and international registry ventures.

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Those may be legitimate activities. But they are discretionary policy choices, not unavoidable costs of registering and renewing .ca domains.


In fact, without the $4.35 million community program alone, CIRA’s ordinary operations would have shown approximately a $2.44 million surplus before investment income. Add the investment income, and it would have been comfortably profitable.


They are presently charging registrars $10.50 per domain-year. At roughly 3.4 million domains, every additional $1 produces around $3.4 million a year. Financially, they could likely freeze the wholesale price for years and remain entirely sound.


So I would frame it as:


The increase may be affordable to the average registrant, but CIRA’s audited finances do not demonstrate that it is necessary. It looks more like monopoly-funded organizational expansion.

CIRA is like any government organization (especially under the Liberals), which means the more money they blow, then more money they get. So the CIRA just gives it away like candy by issuing millions in grants and initiatives each year, and if they're ever in danger of making a profit (thus hampering their ability to raise prices), they just spend even more until they're firmly in the red.

It's the same kind of weird Liberal government reverse-economics that have gotten this country in the horrible financial mess it's in right now.

All that said CIRA is kind enough to sponsor the community and I do appreciate that.

MapleDots said:

All that said CIRA is kind enough to sponsor the community and I do appreciate that.

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There you have it folks, the extra dollar is just the MapleDots sponsorship fee. Suddenly it all makes sense.

MapleDots said:

All that said CIRA is kind enough to sponsor the community and I do appreciate that.

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Sure, but according to their balance sheet, CIRA giving away money they don't have to "sponsor the community", then crying poor and pointing to their annual losses in order to raise their prices. That's pretty fiscally irresponsible to say the least.

It's quite amusing that the LIberals keep letting CIRA get away with this simple-minded trick. But I guess it fits in line with the Liberals de facto solution to every problem of just "printing more money".

Legalnonconforming said:

There you have it folks, the extra dollar is just the MapleDots sponsorship fee. Suddenly it all makes sense.

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Only a government entity would even think of blowing over $8 million on charitable/sponsorship initiatives, then proudly announcing a $2 million dollar deficit. Imagine the CEO of a private firm doing this - they'd ride his ass out on a rail for such insane financial mismanagement.

At the CIRA, their CEO likely gets a bonus for running in the red.

MapleDots said:

All that said CIRA is kind enough to sponsor the community and I do appreciate that.

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Apparently you should be asking for more! Of all their "charitable" donations, yours is likely about the equivalent of 1 lunch expense for the CEO.

Everyday registrants won't flinch, it's still one of the cheaper things when running a business.

lotsofcoffee said:

Going up to $11.50 effective February 1, 2027.

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Wow, I guess I was naive when I hoped this would NOT happen or be necessary.

Folks, please attend the virtual AGM and ask questions in September. And if you're not yet, please become a member.

Been needing an excuse to thin the herd, just took 1,100 domains off auto renew, representing about 10% off my .ca's
I'll probably do the same again come February, kept a lot of them thinking 10 bucks is not a bad rate but that's come and gone a while ago. The current price announcement got me off my butt to finally start the cull.