If a web developer won't give you access to your website, split the problem up before you send an angry email. The domain, the hosting, the site files and the Google accounts around them each come back a different way. The domain matters most, and luckily it's the one with the clearest rules.
The usual story runs like this. A freelancer or small agency built the site a few years ago, set everything up "to make it easier," and has since stopped answering, raised their prices, or gone out of business. You want to change something or move on, and you find you can't even log in.
What follows is written for Ontario owners, and it isn't legal advice. Where there's real money or a contract dispute involved, a lawyer's letter is worth what it costs.
Find out what's actually in your name
Spend thirty minutes on this before contacting anyone. The answers decide the tone of everything that follows.
Start with the domain. Look it up on a registration lookup service (CIRA has its own for .ca).
Privacy services often hide the owner's name, but you'll still see which registrar holds it and
which name servers it points to, and those usually tell you the host as well. Then search your email
and your card statements for either company's name. If you've been paying the renewal yourself,
there's a good chance you already have an account and have forgotten about it.
Next, dig out the contract, the invoices and proof that you paid. Look for anything about ownership, intellectual property or handover.
And be honest about one thing: do you owe them money? If there's an unpaid invoice, your agreement may let the developer hold the work until it's settled, and paying or negotiating is usually the quickest way back in. Everything below assumes you're paid up, or close to it.
Ask once, in writing, for a specific list
Vague requests ("give me my website") get vague answers. Send a short, polite email that lists exactly what you need, and keep a copy.
| Ask for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| The domain's transfer authorization code, or a registrant change into your name | Control of your address, email and search history |
| A full backup of the site: files and database, or the code repository | Lets any developer rebuild or host it elsewhere |
| Admin access to Google Business Profile, Analytics, Search Console and Ads | Your listing, your data, your ad history |
| Logins for any paid themes, plugins or services in your name | Avoids paying twice |
| A date by which they'll reply | Gives you a clear point at which to escalate |
Plenty of these disputes end here. The developer was busy, embarrassed or disorganized rather than hostile, and a clear list is easier to act on than a phone call.
The domain: where the rules are clearest
If you're the registrant, the domain is yours in the registry's eyes even if the developer has
the login. Contact the registrar directly, prove who you are, and ask them to recover the account.
For .com and other ICANN-governed domains, the current
Transfer Policy requires the
registrar to give the registrant the authorization code, and remove the transfer lock, within five
calendar days of the first request.
Two locks can slow you down. A registrar can refuse a transfer within 60 days of the domain's creation or a previous transfer. And a change of registrant normally triggers a 60-day lock on moving to a new registrar, unless you opted out beforehand. Neither stops you from controlling the domain where it sits.
ICANN's board adopted a revised Transfer Policy in June 2026. Among other things it makes the code single-use and short-lived. It hadn't been implemented when this was written, and the registrant's right to move the domain doesn't change.
If the developer is the registrant, you're asking for something different: a change of
registrant, which the registrar can't make without them. Domain dispute procedures exist, CIRA's for
.ca and the UDRP for .com, but they're aimed at bad-faith registrations, such as someone
grabbing your trademark, rather than contract disputes with your own supplier. For most small
businesses, the practical route is a demand letter and, if that fails, a claim based on the
agreement and what you paid.
For a .ca, the new registrant also has to meet CIRA's Canadian Presence Requirements. An Ontario
corporation, registered partnership or Canadian citizen will, but it's worth knowing before you file
the transfer.
The site itself: who owns the code
This is where owners are most often surprised. In Canada, copyright belongs first to the author, and an outside contractor is the author of the code and design they write. Paying for the work doesn't move that by itself. Under section 13(4) of the Copyright Act, an assignment of copyright isn't valid unless it's in writing and signed. The employee rule is different, which is why the same question has a different answer for an in-house developer.
So the contract decides a lot. If it assigns the work to you on payment, you're in a strong position. If it says nothing, you aren't left with nothing, but what you can do with the code is a question for a lawyer.
Some of it is simpler. The words you wrote, your photos and your logo files were yours before the site existed and still are. Paid themes and plugins belong to whoever made them, so if they were bought on the developer's licence you may need your own. And your customer data (form submissions, orders, mailing lists) is information you collected and are responsible for, so ask for an export whatever else happens.
Sometimes rebuilding is cheaper than fighting
If you control the domain, you control most of what has value. The domain carries your web address, your business email, and the search history attached to your page addresses. A new site can be pointed at it, and redirects from the old addresses keep the rankings that came from them. We've written about how to redesign without losing rankings.
Without the domain, a rebuild starts from nothing. That's why the domain comes first, and why it's usually worth paying a lawyer for a letter about it even when the site itself isn't worth fighting over.
The Google accounts
Most of these come back without the developer's help.
If someone else holds your Google Business Profile, request access through Google. The current owner gets an email and three days to respond, and if they ignore it you may be able to claim the profile yourself, though Google says that option isn't always offered. Its request ownership guide walks through it.
Search Console is easier still. Once you control the domain's DNS, you add a record and verify yourself, whoever set it up originally.
Analytics and Ads are the awkward ones, because the history lives in whatever account the developer created. Ask to be made an administrator. If they won't, a new Analytics property starts counting from the day it's installed, and the old numbers are what you lose.
When to escalate
The written request with a list and a date comes first. If the date passes, a demand letter from a lawyer often works where your own emails didn't, mostly because it shows you mean it. After that it's a claim, in Small Claims Court or through counsel, based on the agreement and what you paid.
Keep everything in writing from the very first message. A lawyer can do far more with a dated record of what you asked for than with your memory of a phone call.
So it doesn't happen again
Three accounts should be in your name and on your card before work starts: the domain registrar, the hosting, and wherever the code lives. Add your developer as a user. Don't make them the owner. And read the ownership clause before signing. Our comparison of agency, freelancer and DIY builds covers what to agree up front.
If you're stuck partway through this, book a call. Sometimes the honest answer is that rebuilding on accounts you own is faster than getting the old site back, and we'll tell you if it is. For a new site built with everything in your name from day one, see website development.
Frequently asked
Who owns my website domain if my web developer registered it?
Whoever is listed as the registrant. If the developer registered it in their own name, the registry treats them as the holder, whatever you paid for. If it's in your name and they only manage the account, you can usually deal with the registrar directly. Check the registrant before you write to anyone, because it decides which of two very different routes you're on.
How long does a registrar have to give me my domain transfer code?
For .com and other ICANN-governed domains, the current Transfer Policy requires the registrar to give the registrant the authorization code, and remove the transfer lock, within five calendar days of the registrant's first request. ICANN adopted a revised policy in June 2026 that changes how the code works, but it hadn't been implemented when this was written. .ca domains follow CIRA's rules rather than ICANN's.
Do I own the copyright in a website I paid someone to build?
Not automatically, in Canada. Copyright starts with the author, and an outside contractor is the author of the code and design they create. Section 13(4) of the Copyright Act says an assignment isn't valid unless it's in writing and signed. Your contract is where that assignment would be. Text and photos you supplied yourself remain yours, and a lawyer can tell you what rights you have if the contract says nothing.
Can I just rebuild the website instead of fighting for the old one?
Often, yes, as long as you control the domain. The domain carries your address, your email and most of your search history. A new site can be pointed at it, and redirects from the old page addresses keep the rankings that came from them. Without the domain, a rebuild starts from nothing.
Sources
- Transfer Policy, ICANN
- Approved Resolutions, Regular Meeting of the ICANN Board, 7 June 2026, ICANN, June 7, 2026
- Copyright Act, section 13, Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
- Request ownership of a Business Profile, Google Business Profile Help
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