hgn.ca

Online since June 11, 2001

Three letters.
A quarter century.

HGN.ca is a small domain with a long memory — claimed in the dial-up era, kept through every redesign of the internet since, and still doing exactly one job beautifully: short email addresses.

25 years registered
3 letters, no more
1 name we almost used

The story

We were this close to being HighGate Networks.

In the early days, the plan was to be HighGate Networks — in the same spirit as the great Nortel Networks, the company that once carried a third of the world's internet traffic and most of Canada's tech ambitions on its shoulders.

Then we changed our minds. (In hindsight, given how things went for Nortel, perhaps not the worst call.)

HGN.com was already taken, so on June 11, 2001 we registered HGN.ca — and a vanity domain was born. The company name changed; the three letters stayed.

Timeline

A short history of three letters

  1. 2001

    Registered

    June 11, 2001. Napster is in the news, flip phones are the future, and HGN.ca joins the Canadian internet.

  2. 2001

    The name that wasn't

    "HighGate Networks" is sketched on a whiteboard, admired briefly, and retired. The initials outlive the idea.

  3. 2001–today

    The long quiet years

    Browsers rise and fall. Trends come and go. The renewal invoice gets paid, every single time.

  4. 2026

    Twenty-five years

    A quarter century online — older than YouTube, Gmail, and the iPhone. Still three letters. Still ours.

Why HGN

The case for a tiny domain

Short email addresses

The entire business model. you@hgn.ca fits on anything, spells over the phone in seconds, and never needs repeating.

Held by the founders

Kept by the original founders of the company since day one. Not parked, not for sale, not going anywhere.

Proudly .ca

HGN.com was taken, and honestly the maple leaf suits us better. A Canadian domain in the Nortel tradition — minus the bankruptcy.

Thanks for stopping by.

See you in another twenty-five years.