---
title: "Do You Own Your Website? Code, Domain, Hosting and Email, in Plain Language"
description: "What owning a website means in Canada (code, domain, hosting, email), what the Copyright Act says, and how an agency can quietly keep control."
category: "Platforms"
question: "Do I own my website after a web designer builds it?"
datePublished: 2026-10-15
dateModified: 2026-10-15
readingMinutes: 7
status: published
author: "UXPro Design Studio"
authorType: "Organization"
editorialProcess: "Prepared with AI assistance and checked against the listed sources."
authorUrl: https://uxpro.ca/about
canonical: https://uxpro.ca/blog/do-you-own-your-website
image: https://uxpro.ca/covers/do-you-own-your-website.webp
license: "Quote freely with a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Do You Own Your Website? Code, Domain, Hosting and Email, in Plain Language

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Four things to check | Who holds the code repository, the domain registration, the hosting account and the business email |
| Copyright in Canada | The author is the first owner (Copyright Act s.13(1)); an assignment is valid only in writing, signed by the owner (s.13(4)) |
| A .ca domain | The registrant, who must meet CIRA's Canadian Presence Requirements, holds the registration; it's arranged through a CIRA certified registrar |
| A fair test | If you stopped paying tomorrow, could you hand the exact files to a different developer and keep running? |
| UXPro's answer | Your code stays in your repository. You own it. Care plans are month-to-month; cancel any time |

**You own your website only if you control four separate things: the code (and the written right to it), the domain registration, the hosting account and the business email on that domain. In Canada, paying for a website doesn't by itself make you the copyright owner: the Copyright Act makes the author the first owner, and a transfer only counts in writing. The clearest test: if you stopped paying tomorrow, could you hand the exact files to another developer and keep running?**

## Why doesn't this question come up until it matters?

Most business owners never ask about ownership during a website project, because the relationship starts friendly and the site works. The question surfaces later: when a relationship sours, an agency closes, you want a second quote for a redesign, or you switch email providers and find the domain isn't in your name. By then, the party holding the keys has little reason to hurry. Asking at the start costs nothing and takes one conversation.

## What are the four things to check?

| What | What "you own it" looks like | What "you don't" looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Code | A repository (GitHub, GitLab or similar) you can access, holding the actual source files, plus a contract that assigns you the copyright | Code that only exists inside an agency's own editor, with no file you can hand to someone else, or no written right to it |
| Domain | Registered through a registrar account in your name or your business's name, with the agency given access if needed | Registered under the agency's account, with you listed only as a contact |
| Hosting | An account (Vercel, a cloud provider and so on) billed to you, with the agency added as a team member | An account in the agency's name that stops including your site the moment you leave |
| Business email | Your own Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or similar account, independent of the website | Email bundled into the same account as the website, so leaving the web provider puts your email at risk too |

## What does Canadian copyright law say about who owns the code?

Website code is protected by copyright. The [Copyright Act](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/FullText.html) defines a computer program as "a set of instructions or statements" used in a computer to bring about a specific result, and counts computer programs as literary works. Three provisions matter here:

- **Section 13(1):** "the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein". For a commissioned website, the author is the person or studio who wrote it, not the client who paid.
- **Section 13(3):** where the author is employed "under a contract of service" and makes the work in the course of that employment, the employer is the first owner, unless they agree otherwise. An outside agency or freelancer is usually not your employee, so this exception usually doesn't make you the owner.
- **Section 13(4):** copyright can be assigned or licensed, but "no assignment or grant is valid unless it is in writing signed by the owner of the right" or their authorised agent.

So ownership of the code comes from the contract. Look for a clause that assigns copyright in the work to you, and when that happens (on final payment is common). Without one, you may only have a licence to use the site, and its limits matter if you want to change or move it.

Two more points. Under section 14.1, the author's moral rights can't be assigned but can be waived, and an assignment of copyright doesn't waive them by itself; a contract often includes a waiver so you can edit the site freely. And no studio owns the open-source frameworks and libraries a site is built on (Next.js among them). Those come under their own licences, which generally let you keep using them.

This is general information about the Act, not legal advice. For a contract dispute or a high-stakes agreement, ask a lawyer.

## Who controls a .ca domain?

For a .ca domain, the person or organisation named as the registrant holds the registration. CIRA, which runs the .ca registry, says in its [Canadian Presence Requirements](https://www.cira.ca/uploads/2019/04/canadian-presence-requirements-for-registrants.pdf) that only eligible individuals and entities with a Canadian connection (such as a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or a corporation formed under Canadian law) may apply, through a CIRA certified registrar, to register "and to hold and maintain the registration of" a .ca domain name.

In practice: if a designer registers your .ca in their own name, they are the registrant, not you. Log into the registrar account yourself and check that the registrant is your business (or you, for a sole proprietor).

## How can an agency quietly keep control?

**The closed platform.** Some agencies build inside their own content management system or page builder. Nothing is wrong with that on its own, but the site can then only be edited or hosted through that agency. Ask: "If I leave, what file can I hand to another developer?" A vague answer is the answer.

**The domain in their name.** Many owners never check their registrar account until they need to. Confirm the registrant is your business, not the agency.

**The missing assignment.** The contract talks about "your website" but never assigns copyright in writing. Under section 13(4), an assignment that isn't written and signed isn't valid.

**The bundled hosting-and-email account.** If your email runs through the same account as your website hosting, leaving the web provider can disrupt your email at the same time. Keeping them separate is one of the simplest protections available.

**The long contract.** A lock-in period doesn't change who owns the files, but it limits how freely you can act on that ownership. Month-to-month means ownership is something you can actually use.

## What does a fair handoff look like?

When a project wraps, a straightforward studio hands over (or you already hold) all four pieces without friction: repository access, the domain registration, a hosting account in your name and email independent of the site, plus the signed paperwork for the code. None of that should need a negotiation or a fee once the project is paid for. See [website design and build](/services/website-design-build) for how a build can be scoped this way from the start, and [Squarespace vs Wix vs Webflow vs a custom build](/blog/squarespace-wix-webflow-custom) or [WordPress or Next.js](/blog/wordpress-vs-nextjs) for how the platform choice affects how portable your site is.

## How does UXPro handle it?

Your code stays in your repository. You own it. The site runs in your own hosting project (we build on Vercel), and the domain stays registered to you. Care plans are month-to-month, and you can cancel any time; if you leave, you take the repository and the hosting project with you. None of this is generous; it's what "you own your website" should mean by default. Ask any studio, including us, to show you the clause that says so before a project starts.

## What can you check in five minutes today?

1. Log into your domain registrar directly, not through the agency's dashboard, and confirm the registrant is your business.
2. Ask whoever hosts your site whether the hosting account is billed to you, and whether you have your own login now.
3. Check whether your business email runs through the same account as your hosting.
4. Find your website contract and look for a written clause that assigns the copyright to you.
5. Ask, plainly, whether someone could hand your exact site files to a different developer tomorrow.

None of these needs technical knowledge, and a studio that treats them as reasonable questions is telling you something useful before you've spent a dollar.

## FAQ

### What's the single most important thing to check before signing with an agency?

Who holds the domain registration. Code, hosting and email can usually be moved or rebuilt with enough time and money. A domain registered in an agency's own account, with you listed only as a contact, means you don't control your business's address online, and getting it back depends on the agency's cooperation.

### If I paid for the website, don't I automatically own it?

Not necessarily, under Canadian copyright law. The Copyright Act makes the author of a work its first owner, and the exception for employees covers people working under a contract of service, which an outside agency usually isn't. An assignment of copyright is valid only in writing, signed by the owner. So check that your contract assigns the copyright to you, or at least gives you a licence broad enough to use, change and move the site. This is general information, not legal advice.

### Is it normal for an agency to manage hosting on my behalf?

Yes, and it's often more convenient: someone needs to handle updates and uptime. What matters is whether the hosting account is in your name with the agency given access, or in the agency's name with you as a guest. Ask which one it is, in writing, before launch.

### Can I move my website to a different developer later if it was built in a proprietary system?

It depends on the platform. A site built in standard code (such as Next.js or WordPress) can generally be handed to another competent developer. A site built inside an agency's own closed system, or on a platform that doesn't allow the site to be exported, may need a rebuild to move. Ask directly before you sign.

## Next step

Not sure where you stand on any of the four? Run the checks above first. If an answer is unclear, [book a free consultation](/contact) and we'll help you read what you find. For a build set up with clean ownership from day one, see [website design and build](/services/website-design-build) and [pricing](/pricing); for what upkeep looks like without a lock-in, see [care plans](/care-plans).

This guide is general information about Canadian copyright and domain rules, not legal advice.

*Reviewed 15 October 2026 against the sources listed below.*

## Sources

- [Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42), sections 2, 13 and 14.1](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/FullText.html) (accessed 2026-10-15)
- [Canadian Presence Requirements for Registrants (version 1.3)](https://www.cira.ca/uploads/2019/04/canadian-presence-requirements-for-registrants.pdf) (accessed 2026-10-15)