The Top Canadian Hosting Companies
For Canadian customers and businesses, signing up with a truly Canadian hosting company has never been more important. When your websites are hosted in U.S. datacenters, the content on your website is subject to U.S. privacy laws. This means that Canadian businesses (and consumers) can be more confident that their privacy is being protected.
On top of that, the weaker Canadian dollar means U.S. and U.K. customers can save 20% or more just by signing up with a Canadian web hosting company.
[host cat_id=”474″]How to Choose the Best Canadian Web Hosting Company:
Canadian entrepreneurs and small business owners have to consider several factors, before deciding on a web hosting company to handle the daily operations of their websites. Factors such as data transfer speeds, disk storage size, and uptime percentage rates play integral roles in determining which web hosting company you choose. However, many Canadian entrepreneurs and small business operators forget to include one important factor that often seals the web hosting company deal.
Does it matter where your web hosting company operates?
Yes, and not only does it matter where your web hosting company operates, it’s even more important that the company operate within Canada.
Here’s why:
Canada Does a Better Job of Protecting Privacy
It’s not just Canadian entrepreneurs and businesses that prefer Canadian web hosting companies. A myriad of businesses based in the United States prefer Canadian hosting companies based solely on the difference in the privacy laws of the two countries. After September 11, 2001, Canada and the United States passed comprehensive security laws to combat the rapidly growing threat of terrorism. However, United States legislation does a poor job of protecting company owned data. American law enforcement authorities have the legal power to restrict access to company generated data and worse, spy on companies without the mandate of a court order.
Canadian law strictly regulates website data by protecting business data generated in cyberspace. Several online resources present clear differences between the American Patriot Act and Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Data Closer to Home
When a Canadian entrepreneur or small business operator selects a Canadian based web hosting company, he or she selects a web hosting company close to home. Does geography really play a role in choosing the best web hosting company? Yes, because closer proximity of your online business data and information means you enjoy more efficient website uploads. Your website visitors demand access to data in real time and geographic distance plays a significant role in determining website load speeds. If you run a business in Hamilton, Ontario, your website moves and accepts data at a faster clip from a web hosting company based in Toronto than it does working with a web hosting company located in Miami, Florida.
Moreover, you can visit a Canadian web hosting data center to research all of the features offered by the company. If you choose a web hosting company based in Los Angeles, California, you most likely have to deal with a company representative over the phone.
Litigation in a Canadian Court
Canadian entrepreneurs and small business operators that choose web hosting companies outside of Canada place their legal fates in the hands of another country’s jurisdiction. Since it’s difficult to understand the complexities of Internet laws in Canada, why would you put your faith in the legal framework set up for Internet activity in another country? The costly, time-consuming process of dealing with an American courtroom can turn a thriving Canadian business into an enterprise at the end of its operation. You might never have to take your foreign-based web hosting company to court, but why risk losing everything by going abroad?
Cost Differences
Canadian entrepreneurs and small business owners have typically selected American based web hosting companies based on cost considerations. The Canadian dollar has historically performed poorly against the American dollar, but that has changed over the past 10 years. Now, the Canadian dollar performs well against the American dollar, which has dramatically reduced the disparity between the values of the two country currencies. When you choose a Canadian web hosting company, you receive a bill in Canadian dollars. This is especially relevant for credit card transactions, as you save several percentage points of interest costs by paying for services provided by a Canadian-based web hosting company. In addition, with the data center expansions of web hosting companies OVH and PEER1, prices has declined for Canadian entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Going Green Means More than Dollars
Many Canadian based web hosting companies provide environmentally friendly services that receive power from wind sources. Solar energy doesn’t have the same impact as it does in the United States, but Canadian wind powered technology has emerged as a viable source of alternative energy. For example, HostPapa generates power from 100% wind sources. Canada also represents the third largest producer of hydroelectricity, which it turns into nearly 60% of the country’s electricity. The air conditioning system operated by PEER1’s datacenter receives its energy from the Enwave Deep Lake Water Cooling system. Canadian entrepreneurs and small business operators that want to make strong eco-friendly statements should choose a Canadian web hosting company.
Technical Support
Although Canadians and Americans mostly don’t have to deal with a language barrier, they do have to deal with social, cultural, and business barriers that impede business transactions. This also applies to dealing with technical support departments that operate within Canada and the United States. Canadian web hosting technical support departments receive much higher ratings that the web hosting technical support departments that operate within the United States. American web hosting companies outsource much of the technical support work overseas, while Canadian web hosting companies tend to keep technical support in house. Moreover, Canadian web hosting technical support teams have a much better grasp of Canadian laws that pertain to operating eCommerce platforms.
Canada Strong
The best Canadian web hosting companies offer a wide variety of hosting plans that match the needs of entrepreneurs just starting their enterprises, as well as businesses that have grown into full-blown corporations. Whether you operate a proprietorship in Edmonton or run a multi-unit franchise in Montreal, you want to work with a Canadian web hosting company for several reasons. However, you still have to consider the fundamental criteria for choosing a web hosting company. Uptime rates, data transfer speeds, and disk storage space all play a role in helping you decide on the best Canadian web hosting company.
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