Present-day telecommunications in Canada include telephone, radio, television, and internet usage. In the past,

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

s included

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

available through

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

History

The history of

in Canada dates back to the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

. While the first telegraph company was the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, founded in 1846, it was the

Montreal Telegraph Company The Montreal Telegraph Company was the first significant telegraph company in Canada. In 1847, early telegraph pioneer Orrin S. Wood was recruited to be president of the company, which rapidly established telegraph lines to Toronto and Quebec City ...

, controlled by

Hugh Allan Sir Hugh Allan (September 29, 1810 – December 9, 1882) was a Scottish-Canadian shipping magnate, financier and capitalist. By the time of his death, the Allan Shipping Line had become the largest privately owned shipping empire in the wor ...

and founded a year later, that dominated in Canada during the technology's early years. Following the 1852

Telegraph Act Telegraph Act is a stock short title which used to be used for legislation in the United Kingdom, relating to telegraphy. The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known as a Telegraph Bill during its passage through Parliament. Tel ...

, Canada's first permanent transatlantic telegraph link was a submarine cable built in 1866 between

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

s were sent through networks built by

and

. In 1868 Montreal Telegraph began facing competition from the newly established Dominion Telegraph Company. 1880 saw the Great North Western Telegraph Company established to connect

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

but within a year it was taken over by

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...

, leading briefly to that company's control of almost all telegraphy in Canada. In 1882, Canadian Pacific transmitted its first commercial telegram over telegraph lines they had erected alongside its tracks, breaking Western Union's monopoly. Great North Western Telegraph, facing bankruptcy, was taken over in 1915 by Canadian Northern. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Canadians communicated by telephone, more than any other country. In 1967 the CP and CN networks were merged to form

CNCP Telecommunications CNCP Telecommunications (Canadian National-Canadian Pacific Telecommunications) was an electrical telegraph operator and later a telecom company, which operated between 1967 and 1990. CNCP was created as a joint venture between the Canadian Nat ...

. As of 1951, approximately 7000 messages were sent daily from the United States to Canada. An agreement with

required that U.S. company to route messages in a specified ratio of 3:1, with three telegraphic messages transmitted to Canadian National for every message transmitted to Canadian Pacific. The agreement was complicated by the fact that some Canadian destinations were served by only one of the two networks.

Fixed-line telephony

Telephones - fixed lines: total subscriptions: 13.926 million (2020) ::* Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 36.9 (2020 est.) Telephones - mobile cellular: 36,093,021 (2020) ::* Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 95.63 (2020 est.) Telephone system: (2019) ::* Domestic: Nearly 37 per 100 fixed-line and 96 per 100 mobile-cellular teledensity; domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations (2020) ::* International:

country code Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes (geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term '' ...

- +1;

submarine cables Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water. Examples include: *Submarine communications cable *Submarine power ...

provide links within the Americas and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

; satellite

earth station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

s - 7 (5

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

- 4 trans-

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and 1 trans-

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, and 2

Intersputnik The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, commonly known as Intersputnik, is an international satellite communications services organization founded on 15 November 1971, in Moscow by the Soviet Union along with a group of ...

- (Atlantic Ocean region)

Call signs

ITU prefixes: Letter combinations available for use in Canada as the first two letters of a television or radio station's call sign are CF, CG, CH, CI, CJ, CK, CY, CZ, VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, VF, VG, VO, VX, VY, XJ, XK, XL, XM, XN and XO. Only CF, CH, CI, CJ and CK are currently in common use, although four radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador retained call letters beginning with VO when Newfoundland joined

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

in 1949. Stations owned by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

use CB through a special agreement with the government of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Some codes beginning with VE and VF are also in use to identify radio repeater transmitters.

Radio

As of 2016, there were over 1,100 radio stations and audio services broadcasting in Canada. Of these, 711 are private commercial radio stations. These commercial stations account for over three quarters of radio stations in Canada. The remainder of the radio stations are a mix of public broadcasters, such as

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, as well as

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

, and Aboriginal stations.

Television

As of 2018, 762 TV services were broadcasting in Canada. This includes both conventional television stations and

discretionary service A discretionary service is a Canadian specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A ...

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

services are available throughout Canada. The largest cable providers are

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

Rogers Cable Rogers Cable Inc. is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, primarily in Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Ro ...

Shaw Cable Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

Vidéotron Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Owned by Quebecor, it primarily s ...

Telus Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voi ...

and

Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline ( ...

, while the two licensed satellite providers are

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (french: Bell Télé; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite ...

and

Shaw Direct Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications company Shaw Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two communic ...

Internet

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...

, and Shaw are among the bigger ISPs in Canada. Depending on your location, Bell and Rogers would be the big internet service providers in Eastern provinces, while Shaw and Telus are the main players competing in western provinces. *

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s: there are more than 44 ISPs in Canada, including Beanfield,

Cable Axion Cable Axion is a cable television distributor and Internet service provider based at Magog, Quebec. Areas of operation *Estrie ** Austin ** Barnston ** Brome ** Brome Lake ** Bonsecours ** Bromptonville ** Chartierville ** Compton ** Coo ...

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

(Canada),

Chebucto Community Net The Chebucto Community Net (CCN) is a Canadian FreeNet operating in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). It is registered as a non-profit society under Nova Scotia's Registry of Joint Stocks using the name Chebucto Community Net So ...

, Colbanet,

Craig Wireless Craig Wireless Systems, Ltd. (initially Western Manitoba Broadcasters Ltd., then Craig Broadcast Systems, Inc., & next Craig Media, Inc. before its current branding) is a Canadian company which offers Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service i ...

Dery Telecom DERYtelecom is a cable television distributor Internet service provider and Phone in Canada based in Saguenay, Quebec. The company operates in 13 regions in Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the ...

, Eastlink (company), Electronic Box, Everus Communications, Guest-tek, Information Gateway Services, Internet Access Solutions, Internex Online,

Inukshuk Wireless Inukshuk Wireless Inc. is a joint venture of BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications, created in 2005 to establish a Canada-wide network for wireless Internet connectivity in 45 major cities and over 120 rural communities, throughout the ten Industry ...

, Jet2.net, Look Communications, Managed Network Systems, Inc.,

Mountain Cablevision Mountain Cable was one of three cable television service providers for the city of Hamilton, Ontario and its surrounding area, specifically the Hamilton Mountain area and Haldimand County. Its operations were acquired by Shaw Communications in 2 ...

, National Capital FreeNet,

Novus Entertainment Novus Entertainment (commonly known simply as Novus) is a Canadian telecommunications company providing television, digital phone, and high-speed Internet services via a fiber-optic network. The company is licensed by the Canadian Radio-Televisio ...

Ontera Ontera is a telecommunications company in Ontario, Canada and a subsidiary of Bell Aliant. It provides local telephone service in the Northern Ontario towns of Bear Island, Iroquois Falls, Marten River, Moosonee, Moose Factory and Temagami, and ...

Persona Communications Persona Communications, formerly Regional Cablesystems, was a cable television, Internet and telecommunications provider in Canada. Persona was purchased by EastLink in 2007. At that point it ceased to be an independent company, and the Persona ...

Primus Canada Primus (Latin, 'first') may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Primus (DC Comics), a character in the Omega Men team * Primus (Marvel Comics), a character created by Arnim Zola * Primus, a character in the novel ''Stard ...

Project Chapleau Project Chapleau was a Wi-Fi internet connection that covered the entire town of Chapleau, Ontario, Canada. It was the first of its kind in Canada. It was a wireless mesh Internet technology designed and implemented through a partnership between Be ...

, Qiniq,

Rally Internet Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

Rogers Hi-Speed Internet Rogers Hi-Speed Internet is a broadband Internet service provider in Canada, owned by Rogers Communications. Rogers previously operated under the brand names @Home Network, Rogers@Home, Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet, WAVE, and Road Runner in Ne ...

Rose Media A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, Rush Communications Ltd.,

SaskTel Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communicati ...

, Seaside Communications,

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

Source Cable Source Cable (formerly known as Southmount Cable Limited) is one of three main cable television service providers for the city of Hamilton, Ontario. The other two are Rogers Cable (in the former Mountain Cablevision / Shaw territory) and Cog ...

, SSI Micro, TAO (collective), TekSavvy,

, Telus Internet,

Vmedia VMedia Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company and broadcast distribution provider. It offers VoIP telephone and home security services across Canada; DSL and cable Internet in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Br ...

, Web Community Resource Networks, Wireless Nomad, YourLink *

Internet Exchange Points The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

: There are multiple

in Canada, the largest of which are in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Most ISP's peer at one or more of these Exchanges, except for Bell Canada. The Toronto Internet Exchange ranks as one of the largest in the world. *

Country codes Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes ( geocodes) developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The term ...

.CA .ca is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Canada. The domain name registry that operates it is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). Registrants can register domains at the second level (e.g., ''example.ca'') ...

, CDN, 124 *Internet users: 33 million users * Internet hosts: 8.7 million (2012-2017) *Percentage of households with

Internet access Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

: 87(2016) *Total households with high speed connection: 67% (2014) *Total users of home

online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial inst ...

: 68% (2016)

Mobile networks

The three major mobile network operators are

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of ...

(10.6 million subscribers),

Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...

(9.0 million) and

Telus Mobility Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstre ...

(8.8 million), which have a combined 91% of market share.Number of mobile phone network subscribers 2017 Q3
- CWTA

Administration and Government

Federally, telecommunications are overseen by the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(french: Conseil de la Radiodiffusion et des Télécommunications Canadiennes)–CRTC as outlined under the provisions of both the Telecommunications Act and

Radiocommunication Act The ''Radiocommunication Act'' (french: Loi sur la radiocommunication) is an Act of Parliament respecting radiocommunication in Canada. It was enacted in 1985. The ''Radiocommunication Act'' is administered by the Government of Canada's Innovatio ...

s. CRTC further works with

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal I ...

(formerly Industry Canada) on various technical aspects including: allocating frequencies and call signs, managing the broadcast spectrum, and regulating other technical issues such as interference with electronics equipment. As Canada comprises a part of the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international callin ...

for area codes, the

Canadian Numbering Administration Consortium The Canadian Numbering Administration Consortium is the corporation responsible for administering Canada's telecommunication numbering resources. The CNA is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). CNAC ...

within Canada is responsible for allocating and managing area codes in Canada.

References

External links

The Canadian Communications Foundation
– A History of Canadian Broadcasting

CRTC (Mobile, Phone, Internet, or free/paid TV) by location
Compare Internet & Phone Plans in Canada
– Free Online Comparison Tool {{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Canada