Answer ID: 9021
What Happens When a .CA Domain Expires?
After the expiration date of a .CA domain, the domain enters a 29 day Auto-Renew Grace period. During the Grace period there is no added fee in order to renew the domain.
After the Grace period, the domain will then be sent to the Redemption Period, which lasts 30-45 days, during which a $250 fee is required in order the recover the domain. See article "How to Recover Domains in Redemption Status".
After redemption period, the .CA domain enters TBR status ("To Be Released"). After being in TBR for at least 60 hours, it will participate in the next scheduled TBR session, which is held by CIRA (the .CA registry) every Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. During the TBR session, the domain can be registered by anyone who has backordered it. If it's not registered, the domain is released within 24 hours to the general public for anyone to register.
You can check the upcoming TBR domain releases at this page: cira.ca/ca-domains/tbr.
You can buy domains that are in the TBR phase at a website such as: webnames.ca/TBR
- .CA registrant FAQ's: https://www.cira.ca/en/support/