Canada Communications

Vermillion Lake, Banff National Park © 123rf.com

Telephone

Country code: 1. Most public telephones charge 50 cents a call, which can be paid with any combination of five-, 10- and 25-cent coins. Public telephones are becoming harder to find, due to the growing popularity of mobile phones. Many telephone companies offer a reduced long-distance rate Mon-Fri 1800-0800 and Sat 1200 to Mon 0800. For long-distance calls, telephone cards are available. You can find credit card telephones in larger centres.

Mobile Telephone

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is good in major urban areas, but spotty in remote locations. Roaming rates can be high, so you should check with your provider before leaving home.

Internet

Available throughout Canada, as are Internet cafes (although the latter are not as common as they are in many other countries). You can often find pay-per-use Wi-Fi hotspots in coffee shops, fast-food outlets and airports. Free public Wi-Fi is less common; it's easiest to find in public libraries and net-savvy New Brunswick.

Post

All mail from Canada to outside North America is by air. Stamps are available at post offices and in many hotels, pharmacies and convenience stores, among other locations. Letters sent by regular mail take roughly seven business days to reach Europe.

Post office hours: generally Mon-Fri 0930-1700, Sat 0900-1200, but times vary according to province and location; city offices will have longer hours.

Media

Canada has a long history of public broadcasting. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was set up in the 1930s in response to the growing influence of American radio. Broadcasting is in both French and English; the CBC is known in French as Société Radio-Canada. The corporation also operates four national TV channels, TV and radio services for indigenous peoples in the north, and the international broadcaster, Radio Canada International.

Press

• The main national daily newspapers are The Globe and Mail and The National Post.
• Daily newspapers published in the larger population centres have a wide local and regional circulation.
• French-language dailies are published in eight cities, including Montréal, Ottawa and Québec.
• In Alberta, the main English-language newspapers are the Calgary Herald, The Calgary Sun, The Edmonton Journal and The Edmonton Sun.
• In British Columbia, the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province and the Victoria Times-Colonist.
• In Manitoba, the Winnipeg Free Press and The Winnipeg Sun.
• In New Brunswick, the Daily Gleaner and The Times and Transcript
• In Newfoundland & Labrador, the Telegram and The Western Star.
• In Nova Scotia, The Chronicle-Herald and The Daily News.
• In Ontario, The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, The Toronto Star and the The Toronto Sun.
• In Prince Edward Island, the Guardian and the Journal Pioneer.
• In Québec, The Gazette (daily).
• In Saskatchewan, the Leader-Post and the Star-Phoenix.
• In the Yukon, The Whitehorse Daily Star.

TV

• CBC owns a main English-language network and the English-language cable news channel CBC Newsworld, while its francophone counterpart operates a main French-language network and the French-language cable news channel le Réseau de l'information (RDI).
• CTV and Global are major commercial English-language networks, whilst TVA is a major French-language commercial network.
• CPAC is the parliamentary and political channel.

Radio

• CBC operates English-language Radio One (focusing on talk, news and public affairs, with some music) and cultural network Radio Two.
• Its francophone counterpart, Société Radio-Canada, operates French-language Première Chaîne and Espace Musique.
• CBC runs the external service Radio Canada International.
• There are hundreds of private radio stations.

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