Is Namecheap sidestepping the .CA TBR process? (17.Viewing)

I started digging into this after buying a .CA from one of their expired auctions, and the timelines do not look like what most of us would expect if a .CA actually expired, got deleted, went through redemption, and then hit TBR.

Example: en-en-glucotonic.ca: https://www.namecheap.com/market/en-en-glucotonic.ca/



And there are lots more. Hundreds. Many ending at the same time. Plenty of obvious junk names that nobody is seriously curating as valuable expired inventory.

Aren't these supposed to go to TBR and not be auctioned seperately?

I had a similar situation recently with a client whose .ca domain was registered through GoDaddy. The domain lapsed because the registrant forgot to renew. Instead of the domain going through the normal expiry, deletion, and then TBR pipeline, GoDaddy appears to have auto-renewed it internally (the WHOIS updated date changed and expiry was pushed out to 2027), effectively locking the domain in their own ecosystem. It never hit TBR. The registrant is now being asked to pay a high redemption fee on top of the renewal cost just to recover a domain they originally owned, and of course, before any public bidding process that CIRA would normally govern.

What you're describing with Namecheap sounds structurally similar. Dynadot also has something similar and they brand it as "Expired auction": https://www.dynadot.com/market/auction

It seems to be common for gTLDs with some of these registrars (Namecheap, Godaddy, Dynadot), but I'm wondering how is it allowed specifically for .ca, and are these registrars fulfilling their obligations under the CIRA Registrar Accreditation Agreement? The TBR process exists so that expired .ca domains re-enter the market through a level playing field, not a private auction run by the registrar who just happens to control the domain at the moment it expires.

@CIRA - would be great to get your perspective on this. If this is true, it seems like it should be a breach of some sort of terms of service between CIRA and a registrar.

From the CIRA general registration rules:
Section 4.1(e)

“For the avoidance of doubt, under no circumstances may a Registrar of Record transfer a Domain Name Registration, or change the Registrant associated with a Domain Name Registration due to non-payment by a Registrant of any amounts owed to a Registrar or other third party, or any other breach or non-compliance by a Registrant of its agreements with a Registrar of Record or other party.”

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Section 7.4

“Such request must be done in good faith. It must also be done at the request of the Registrant, with the exception of only clear instances of non-payment by the Registrant of the Domain Name Registration renewal fee.”
“Under no circumstances may the Registrar of Record transfer the Domain Name Registration to its own account or to any other third party, change the Registrant associated with the Domain Name Registration, or change the DNS information associated with the Domain Name Registration, with the exception of changing the DNS to a webpage advising of the non-renewal or deletion of the Domain Name Registration.”
“The Registrar of Record must delete a Domain Name Registration during the Auto Renew Grace Period if requested by the Registrant.”

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Section 7.7

“If a Domain Name Registration is not redeemed during the 30 day Redemption Grace Period, it will be added to the ‘To Be Released’ List, where it will be made available to others for registration, as per the Registry PRP.”

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Section 8.3

“To change the Registrant associated with a Domain Name Registration, the current Registrant must request its Registrar of Record to submit a domain update request to CIRA.”

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Section 10.1

“With the exception of Sections 3.7 and 7.4, a Registrar of Record can only delete a Domain Name Registration at the specific request of the Registrant.”
“Under no circumstances may a Registrar of Record delete a Domain Name Registration due to non-payment by a Registrant of any amounts owed to a Registrar or other third party, or any other breach or non-compliance by a Registrant of its agreements with a Registrar of Record or other party.”

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