Do I Have Register My Domain with the Domain Registry of Canada?

If you own a domain name in Canada, no doubt when it came time to renew, you received a letter in the mail from a company called the Domain Registry of Canada. The letter looks like just like an invoice and includes your personal contact information and the name of your expiring domain.

▪ At the top right you'll see: "Domain Name Expiration Notice"

▪ It includes verbiage like:

"You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the web, and now is the time to renew your name from your current registrar to the Domain Registry of Canada"

▪ It includes a convenient return envelope and a tear away stub for you to send your payment to renew.

When I received my first letter from them, I was a bit confused and initially thought that I was obligated to re-register with them. After all, their logo includes the Canadian maple leaf and they have such a generic, yet "official" sounding name of "Domain Registry of Canada".
 

I assume that many people have the same reaction as me and then actually send in their payment to them; otherwise, the Domain Registry of Canada wouldn't employ such an expensive mail campaign to every domain owner in Canada. And when you take into account that they charge an exorbitant $40 CAD per year to register a domain, it's no wonder they can afford all this postage. Domains can be registered for as little as $4.95 US, so save your money.

To the company's credit, they do say:

"Domain name holders are not obligated to renew their domain name with their current Registrar or with the Domain Registry of Canada."

But there is something very unsavory about a company that sends potentially misleading mail, attempts to take business away from other domain registrars and, on top of it all, overcharges for its services.

So, the answer to "Do I have to register my domain name with the Domain Registry of Canada" is a resounding, "NO!"

Save your money and re-register with your current domain registration company that charges reasonable rates and doesn't employ deceptive marketing tactics.