The growth of the Internet in general, and online and mobile search, in particular, has just claimed another victim – the Canadian White Pages directory service.
The iconic Canadian White Pages which contains listings of residential telephone numbers in various locations across Canada was first delivered in 1879. It is consequently now over a hundred and thirty years old.
Over the years, updated versions of this publication were periodically delivered to residents. According to Marc P. Tellier President and CEO of Yellow Pages group, the White Pages have become more or less redundant, especially in urban areas, as people make use of online services such as Canada411 and YellowPages.ca to find out the phone numbers they need.
In 2005, it was decide to send the white pages at a two yearly interval, and interested parties could request a copy in the in between year. The demand was practically nil.
It has thus been decided to discontinue the practice of delivering the Canadian White pages in future in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Quebec City, Montreal Edmonton and Calgary.
Residents who are still interested in receiving the White Pages can specifically make a request to have a copy of it delivered to them.
There have been concerns that the discontinuation of this service will affect the elderly and poorer sections of society, who do not have access to computers or mobile phones.
