SaskTel Won’t Kill the Phone Book After All—Here’s Why

The CRTC has decided that SaskTel no longer has to print and deliver its traditional phone directory every year, but the company says it’s not ready to shelve the book just yet.

The ruling, issued August 15, followed a request from SaskTel in March. The Crown corporation argued it should have the same flexibility already given to other carriers across Canada, including some owned by Bell.

Before this change, SaskTel had been legally bound to provide at least one free directory per customer line.

According to spokesperson Greg Jacobs, customers shouldn’t expect an immediate shift. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to stop or change the way that we distribute phone books,” he said. “It just provides SaskTel with the flexibility to evolve the way we distribute phone books in the future,” he said to CTV News.

Not everyone on the CRTC panel agreed. Commissioner Bram Abramson issued a dissent, pointing out that the “era of the phone book has been winding down for some time.” He recalled how a 1909 government directory was placed in a time capsule beneath the Legislative Building in Regina, describing it as an object that symbolized a past way of life.

“Over the century that separated the capsule’s gifters from its recipients, generations had grown up using ever-thicker versions to look up neighbours, find a locksmith, block pucks, or see over a steering wheel. It was a phone book.”

Abramson also argued that while city residents may have little use for the directory, it remains important where mobile and broadband coverage is weak.

For now, SaskTel says production will continue. Jacobs highlighted that about 12,000 small businesses rely on the book for advertising. In 2024, 465,000 copies were printed. Customers can opt out online, and the books are fully recyclable using soy- and vegetable-based inks.

When was the last time you touched a phone book?