Friends groups with domain names would have received a couple of notices by now, advising them of the need to register their existing domain name with CIRA before Nov. 1st.  As webmaster of the www.friendsoflibraires.ca website, I received the following notice:

October 3, 2000

On or about November 1st, 2000, CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) is taking over operational control of the .ca Registry from the University of British Columbia.

If you do not pre-register this domain name with CIRA prior to November 1st, 2000 it will cease to function on November 1st.

This means you will not be able to receive any email at any addresses associated with this domain name and no one will be able to access web pages referred to by this domain name.

If you do not act you may also lose the right to use this name and it may be assigned to another user.

How to pre-register a .ca Domain Name:

1.      Ensure your registration information is accurate by visiting http://www.cdnnet.ca/update.html. If your information is not up to date please correct it.

2.      Select a certified Registrar. Your pre-registration can only be done through the services of a certified Registrar. A list of certified Registrars is available at http://www.cira.ca/cira/public?LANGUE=en&REGIS=1. Registrants are advised to shop around for the type of servie and price they are looking for from a registrar.

3.      Make the necessary arrangements with the selected Registrar to have a pre-registration request submitted to CIRA prior to November 1st, 2000. If you have questions on CIRA or the transfer process, please contact Annie Boucher at (613) 230-9009 or by e-mail at aboucher@kencommunications.com.

You can also visit CIRA's FAQ at http://www.cira.ca.

I then contacted many of the  registrars listed (at least those which provided an e-mail address), and collected the following responses with regard to fees.  Based on my e-mail survey, the following registration fees were quoted between Oct. 3 and October 16th. Keep in mind, your first initial license period will run from November 1st, 2000 to October 31st, 2001. Therefore, in addition  to your annual license fee, you will be charged a monthly rate (which varies) to bring your current anniversary date to November 1st. GST also applies.

Visit the CIRA website (http://www.cira.ca/en/fqa.html#q6) to read some of the frequently asked questions (FAQ-s) about the new fees for domain name registrations. It is noted that domain name registrars are required to pay CIRA a $20 fee,  and that registrars are free to set their own fees. It is written "A competitive environment among Registrars will keep fees as low as possible."
 
 

Domain Registrar Website E-mail Fees
ALOAK http://www.aloak.ca
 http://www.aloak.ca/service/cira/notice.phtml
staff@aloak.ca Preregistration - $22.50 / domain-year 
New registration - $29.50 / domain-year
Bulk rates available
Arvic Search Services Inc.  http://www.arvic.com varcuri@arvic.com unknown - not stated in e-mail reply
Canadian Domain Name Services Inc. http://www.cadns.ca/Register registrar@cadns.ca Our fees are $30 CDN per 12 month period + GST 
Canhost www.canhost.ca anthony@canhost.ca setup charge $25
Yearly charge $25
Digital Internet Gaming Services Ltd www.digs.ca registrar@digs.ca Pre-register 
Annual fee: $20 per year
Filing fee = $10
Domain.ca www.domain.ca admin@domain.ca Re-Registration only $29.95/yr.
Endless Communications http://www.endless.net/new/index.asp registrar@endless.net Yearly cost for each domain is $35, Should you choose to register from two to seven years you will be eligible for a 10% discount
E-Gate Communications Inc.  http://support.egate.net ho@egate.net First year registration special - $23.95.  Additional years are approximately $37/year with discounts for multiple years.
Internic www.internic.ca service@internic.ca $50 a year
Registraire Réseau Internet Québec Inc.  http://www.riq.qc.ca/domaine/domaine.html  domaine@riq.qc.ca Registration is 39,95 $ + taxes per year, per domaine name.
TransCanada Network Services http://www.dot.ca domains@dot.ca  
WebDomaRISQ http://www.webdomaine.qc.ca/htmlen/rates.html registraire@webdomaine.qc.ca $45/year ($70 is paid by cheque or money order
Webnames http://www.webnames.ca/ support@webnames.ca pro-rated amount of $50 a year for the first 2 years;discounts for       longer-term registration