Why CIHA Exists
Running a small hosting company in Canada is lonely.
It doesn't have to be.
When you're a small provider, you don't have a procurement department or a vendor manager. You're Googling part numbers at 2am and hoping the used switch you bought off eBay actually works.
CIHA is a group of people who've all been there, helping each other out where it makes sense.
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Hardware Group Buys
Pool orders on servers, switches, optics, and cabling to hit volume pricing tiers none of us reach alone. Split a pallet of drives instead of buying 4 at retail.
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Colo & Rack Negotiation
Negotiate rack space and power rates as a group at shared facilities. A DC cares more about 10 racks across 5 companies than your single half-cab.
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Knowledge Sharing
A private group of people who actually run infrastructure. Ask how someone handles abuse tickets, what billing system they use, or whether that vendor is worth dealing with.
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Referral Network
When a customer needs something you don't offer, send them to another CIHA member instead of losing them to a telecom. Keep revenue in the indie ecosystem.
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Credibility & Visibility
Being part of a vetted group of real operators helps customers trust a small company. A CIHA badge says you're not a fly-by-night reseller.
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Direct Peering
If we're in the same facility, a cross-connect is cheap and easy. Keep traffic between members local instead of hairpinning through transit.
This is not an industry association.
Industry associations let Bell and Rogers sit at the same table as a 3-person hosting company and pretend that's useful. CIHA is for the people who are actually doing the work — not the ones who own the fiber plant and set the wholesale rates we all pay.
Members
Who's in.
Active CIHA members, pulled live from the portal. Independent operators with real infrastructure.
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Membership Eligibility
Who can join — and who can't.
Applications are reviewed manually. We're not trying to be exclusive for the sake of it — we just want to make sure everyone in the group is actually a small operator, not a telecom subsidiary wearing a hoodie.
You're Eligible If
- You own or lease physical infrastructure (racks, servers, network gear) in a Canadian datacenter
- Your company is independently owned — not a subsidiary, brand, or division of a large telecom or ISP
- You provide hosting, colocation, transit, or infrastructure services as a core part of your business
- You're a small operation — no hard headcount cutoff, but if you have an HR department you're probably too big
- You're interested in actually participating — group buys, knowledge sharing, referrals, whatever makes sense
You're Not Eligible If
- You are, or are owned by, a major telecom (Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw/Freedom, Videotron, SaskTel, etc.)
- You are a subsidiary or white-label brand of a large telecom or multinational hosting conglomerate
- You are a pure reseller with no physical infrastructure of your own
- You don't have any presence in a Canadian datacenter
- You are a VC-backed rollup buying up independent providers
Why exclude the big telecoms?
Because they don't need help. Bell owns the fiber. Rogers owns the cable plant. They set the wholesale rates we all pay.
This group is for the people buying transit from them, not the ones selling it. Simple as that.
Alliance Rules
The rules. Read them.
CIHA only works if everyone plays by the same rules. This isn't a suggestion list — if you're in, you follow these. Break them and you're out.
01
Don't Compete Dirty
You don't poach each other's customers. If a CIHA member's client comes to you, you tell them. You don't undercut a member's quote that was shared in the group. We compete in the market, not inside the alliance.
02
Keep Member Info Private
Vendor quotes, pricing, internal discussions, infrastructure details — anything shared in the group stays in the group. You don't share it outside, period. This is the foundation of trust.
03
Don't Misrepresent the Alliance
The CIHA badge means you're a vetted independent operator. Don't use it to imply capabilities you don't have, and don't speak on behalf of the alliance without agreement from other members.
04
Operate Honestly
Don't run services that make the rest of us look bad. If you're ignoring abuse reports, hosting illegal content, or running scams — you're gone. We're not a cover for shady operations.
05
Pay Your Bills
If you participate in a group buy, you pay your share. If you owe a member for remote hands, cross-connects, or anything else — you pay. Members who don't honour their commitments get removed.
06
Stay Independent
If you get acquired by a telecom, VC rollup, or any entity that wouldn't qualify for membership on its own — your membership ends. No hard feelings, but the whole point is independence.
What happens if you break the rules?
Founding members review the situation. If you violated a rule, you'll be told what happened and given a chance to respond. If the founding members agree the violation is serious or repeated, you're removed.
Removal means your listing comes down, your badge access is revoked, and you stop using CIHA branding immediately. No appeals committee, no bureaucracy — just a straightforward conversation between operators.
What You Actually Get
No fluff, here's the real list.
Membership is free during the founding period. Some of this is day-one stuff, some of it we'll figure out together as the group grows.
01
Private Community
A members-only group for Canadian indie hosts. Ask questions, share vendor experiences, get a second opinion on a quote, or vent about a bad upstream.
02
Hardware Group Buys
When someone needs to buy gear, they post it to the group. If others need the same thing, we order together and split the volume discount.
03
Colo Rate Negotiation
If multiple members are in (or looking at) the same facility, we approach the DC together. More racks, more leverage, better rates for everyone.
04
Customer Referrals
Customer needs game hosting and you do colo? Send them to a CIHA member who does it. Keep the business in the indie ecosystem instead of losing it to OVH.
05
CIHA Member Badge
A badge for your site that says you're a vetted, independent Canadian operator. Helps with credibility when you're competing against companies 100x your size.
06
Cross-Connects & Peering
If we're in the same building, running a cross-connect is easy and cheap. Keep member-to-member traffic off transit. No fancy IX needed.
Member Assets
What you get to put on your site.
Every verified member gets the CIHA seal and badge to display on their website, proposals, and marketing materials. It tells customers you're part of a vetted group of independent Canadian operators.
Alliance Seal
The full CIHA seal. Use on about pages, partner sections, or anywhere you want to show your alliance membership.
Member Badge
Drop this in your footer or sidebar. Links back to CIHA so customers can verify your membership.
Embed code provided on approval
Once accepted, you'll receive SVG files and an HTML snippet you can paste directly into your site. The badge links back to your member profile on CIHA.