Demise of the phone book brought on by online users
Published: Monday, January 15, 2007
OTTAWA -- The march of technology has taken another victim. Starting now, the residential phone directory will be distributed only once every two years in four major markets across the country.
The trusty white pages have been an institution in Canadian homes for generations, allowing people to quickly look up the local pizza place or the number of an acquaintance.
However, with newer methods for finding phone numbers, Canadians are consulting the book less and less.
"People are using other means to find residential information," said Annie Marsolais, a spokeswoman for the Yellow Pages Income Fund, the company that publishes the phone book. "The number of unique visitors to our online Canada411.ca website has increased by 100 per cent over the past three years."
Marsolais said residents of Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City and Ottawa will receive the phone book on a bi-annual basis unless they apply to Yellow Pages to have their annual delivery continued.
The company said it has made a number of changes to the phone book, pulling out the government listings and all business listings. That information has been added to the Yellow Pages, which will continue to be distributed annually.