Because .ca is a specifically Canadian TLD, CIRA's registration policies require that registrants must have a connection to Canada in order to register a .ca domain name. CIRA has defined a number of different kinds of connections that individuals or organizations may have in order to meet this requirement. For example, an individual can qualify by being a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or by belonging to a people indigenous to Canada such as the Inuit. An organization can qualify by, for example, being a corporation incorporated in Canada, a government body in Canada or a hospital located in Canada.

These kinds of connections are called "legal types" and also serve to ensure that the registrant is a legal entity capable of entering into a contract with CIRA concerning the registration. Each legal type has requirements for what ownership and contact information must be given. For example if the type indicates that the registrant is a corporation, the owner cannot be given as an individual's name.

For these reasons the legal type used in the registration is a matter of importance, and if the registration details do not match with the requirements of the legal type the registration may be slowed while the registrant is contacted to determine how to correct the error.