Most Canadian homes rely on Canadian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Rogers Communications and Bell Canada for their Internet access. These ISPs provide DNS Resolver services to their residential customers, with the DNS servers typically being assigned to the home router through DHCP. These DNS services are open and allow access to the entire Public Internet. However, alternatives such as the free DNS services offered by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and Cloudflare provide three sets of DNS Resolvers to choose from:
(1) Private, which offers unrestricted access,
(2) Protected, which filters out malicious websites, and
(3) Family, which filters both malicious websites and adult content.
Switching to these free services is a simple process of logging into your home router, selecting “Custom DNS,” and entering the pair of alternate DNS servers that offer the desired filtering. CIRA provides instructions for changing DNS services on various devices, including your home router, which can be found at the following link:
[Home Router DNS Settings Configuration].
To learn more about CIRA’s “CIRA Canadian Shield – Free public DNS for Canadians,” which aims to provide simple cybersecurity for all, visit their webpage:
[CIRA Canadian Shield Free public DNS for Canadians]
Additionally, I recommend reading CIRA’s FAQ section, as it addresses many common questions about the service:
CIRA – Canadian Internet Registration Authority – Canadian Shield
This page at CIRA provides a good summary of the services provided by the CIRA Canadian Shield:
CIRA DNS Resolvers
Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a well-known Global DNS services provider which also provides DNS services equivalent to the CIRA Canadian Shield.
The link describing the equivalent Cloudflare DNS services is: