Only the individuals and entities that meet the requirements in the Canadian Requirements can apply to CIRA to register .ca domain names, on a first-come, first-served basis. However, .ca domain names use the bundle approach. This means the registrant of a .ca domain name has exclusive rights to every variant of that particular domain name. For example, only the registrant of grace.ca has the rights to register grâce.ca, and vise-versa.

Individuals and entities that meet the registration requirements include Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada, aboriginal people indigenous to Canada, or legal representatives of Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Non-individual registrants include all other legal registrant types, such as corporations. Applicants must meet the Canadian Presence (address) Requirements.

If you registered a .ca domain name with the University of British Columbia (UBC) registry before November 8, 2000, you satisfy the Canadian Presence Requirements, unless the UBC registrant for the domain name no longer exists or you transferred the domain name to another registrant.