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0017. Domain Rebrand to wait-time.ca

Date: 2026-02-19

Status: Accepted

Deciders: Jeremy Dawson

Technical Story: docs/planning/roadmap.md (deployment posture) + rebrand implementation sweep

Context and Problem Statement

The project needs to align public-facing branding and canonical URLs with the new domain wait-time.ca while preserving existing repository identifiers and legacy inbound links. At the same time, public hosting is intermittently unavailable due to cost-control posture (Netlify project paused).

Decision Drivers

  • Canonical domain clarity for SEO, citations, and exports
  • Preserve continuity for existing links (legacy domains, GitHub repo slug)
  • Minimal operational risk (safe redirects, explicit deployment posture)
  • Cost control (public hosting can be intentionally offline)

Considered Options

  • Keep the existing domain as canonical
  • Rebrand product name to match the domain exactly everywhere
  • Keep the product name human-readable, and treat wait-time.ca as the canonical domain

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: "Keep the product name human-readable (Wait Time Canada), and treat wait-time.ca as the canonical domain", because it preserves a clear product identity while allowing a clean, stable canonical URL for SEO and citations.

Positive Consequences

  • User-facing copy remains readable and consistent ("Wait Time Canada")
  • Canonical URL is consistent across metadata, sitemap/robots, and data exports
  • Legacy domains can permanently redirect without breaking old links

Negative Consequences

  • Requires coordinated external configuration (DNS, hosting, secrets)
  • While public hosting is paused, the canonical domain cutover remains staged and must be treated as on hold

Pros and Cons of the Options

Keep the existing domain as canonical

  • Good, because it avoids operational changes
  • Bad, because it does not match the new domain strategy and complicates future branding

Rebrand product name to match the domain everywhere

  • Good, because it tightly couples the product to the domain
  • Bad, because it weakens a clear human-readable product name and forces unnecessary copy churn

Keep the product name human-readable, and treat wait-time.ca as canonical

  • Good, because it preserves brand readability while standardizing canonical URLs
  • Good, because internal identifiers (repo slug, package/module names) remain stable
  • Bad, because it requires explicit redirect + environment configuration

Additional Information

Implementation includes:

  • Canonical base URL support via NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL for metadata/sitemap/robots
  • Legacy host redirects at the edge (Next.js middleware) when hosting is active
  • Documentation/roadmap explicitly marking the Netlify paused posture and the March 9, 2026 target to re-enable public hosting