A group of small, independently owned hosting and infrastructure providers — Canadian operators at the core, with trusted partners across North America. We talk to each other, help each other out, and buy hardware together. No billion-dollar telecoms. Just people who actually rack their own servers.
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 — Canadian operators and the North American partners who work alongside them — helping each other out where it makes sense.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If we're in the same facility, a cross-connect is cheap and easy. Keep traffic between members local instead of hairpinning through transit.
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.
Active CIHA members. Independent operators with real infrastructure.
Game servers, VPS, colo, and dedicated servers. Toronto, Miami, expanding to Dallas.
https://fourseasonshosting.com →9 global PoPs with 2Tbps+ mitigation capacity. Canadian-owned, independently operated.
https://sucuranetworks.ca →IP Transit
https://as30265.net/ →Independent hosting or infrastructure provider? Canadian operator or a partner who works with us? There's room.
Apply now →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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Associate members operating under foreign jurisdiction do not store, process, or access Canadian customer data held by full members. In any arrangement where associate infrastructure is part of the stack, a Canadian full member acts as the data custodian of record. Canadian data is subject to Canadian law. Violation is grounds for immediate removal.
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.
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. Canadian companies join as full members. American and other foreign operators who work with us join as associates.
Not Canadian-incorporated but you work with us? You're welcome here. CIHA was built to push Canadian data sovereignty, but that doesn't mean we shut out the American operators and friends who help make this community work. Associate membership lets you participate in almost everything — the only restriction is around who holds Canadian customer data.
Group buys, knowledge sharing, transit, peering, referrals — you're in for all of it. The agreement is about protecting Canadian customers' data under Canadian law. Some customers won't care. Others will. The framework is there for when it matters.
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.
If you run a small hosting or infrastructure operation — in Canada or working alongside Canadian operators — tell us who you are and what you run.
Applications are reviewed manually. We'll get back to you within a few business days.