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{{Short description|Canadian telecommunications company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bell Canada
| former_names = The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd. (1880–1968)
| logo = Bell logo.svg
| logo_size = 150px
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| traded_as = 
| founders = [[Charles Fleetford Sise]]
| key_people = [[Mirko Bibic]] ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<ref name="2008NewCEO-PR">{{cite press release
  | title = George Cope appointed to the boards of directors and as CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada
  | publisher = BCE
  | date = July 11, 2008
  | url = http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/corp/2008/07/11/74806.html
  | access-date = July 11, 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080721042212/http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/corp/2008/07/11/74806.html
  | archive-date = July 21, 2008
| url-status = dead
  }}</ref>
| industry = [[Telecommunications industry|Telecommunications]]
| products = {{hlist|[[Landline|Fixed line]]|[[mobile phone|mobile telephony]]|[[Internet]] services|[[Digital television]]|[[Radio broadcasting]]}}
| revenue = {{increase}} {{CAD}}24.673 billion (2023)<ref name="2023 Annual Financial Report" />
| operating_income = {{increase}} {{CAD}}10.417 billion (2023)<ref name="2023 Annual Financial Report" />
| net_income = {{decrease}} {{CAD}}2.327 billion (2023)<ref name="2023 Annual Financial Report" />
| num_employees = {{increase}} 45,132 (2023)<ref name="2023 Annual Financial Report" />
| parent = {{plainlist|
* [[Bell Telephone Company|American Bell]] (1880–1899)<ref name="beatriceco" />
* [[AT&T Corporation]] (1899–1975)
* [[BCE Inc.]] (1983–present)
}}
| subsid = {{plainlist|
* Bell Technical Solutions
* [[Bell Mobility]]
* [[Bell Aliant]]
* [[Bell MTS]]
* [[Virgin Plus]]
* [[Bell Internet]]
* [[Bell Satellite TV]]
* [[Bell Fibe TV]]
* [[Lucky Mobile]]
* [[Bell Fund]]
* [[Ziply Fiber]]
}}
| area_served = [[Canada]]
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1880|04|29}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bce.ca/aboutbce/history |title=Bell Canada Enterprises :: History from Graham Bell until Today » BCE |access-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415134337/http://www.bce.ca/aboutbce/history |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>
| location = [[Verdun, Quebec]], Canada<ref>“Contact Us.” Contact Us | BCE Inc. Accessed February 25, 2021. https://www.bce.ca/contact-us.</ref> <!-- Please ONLY mention Verdun where [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|sourced reliably]], Montréal is the city but the NOT the official city of its headquarters. Also in the link its the official city of Verdun. -->
| module = {{Infobox network service provider|child=yes|asn=577}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.bell.ca/}}
}}

'''Bell Canada''' (commonly referred to as '''Bell''') is a Canadian [[telecommunications company]] headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell<ref>{{Cite web |title=Corporate headquarters |url=https://www.bce.ca/contact-us|access-date=June 17, 2020 |publisher=Bell|language=en}}</ref> in the borough of [[Verdun, Quebec]], in Canada. It is an [[ILEC]] (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the provinces of [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]]; as such, it was a founding member of the [[Stentor Alliance]]. It is also a [[Competitive local exchange carrier|CLEC]] (competitive local exchange carrier) for enterprise customers in the western provinces.

Its subsidiary [[Bell Aliant]] provides services in the [[Atlantic provinces]]. It provides mobile service through its [[Bell Mobility]] (including [[Individual branding|flanker brand]] [[Virgin Plus]]) subsidiary, and television through its [[Bell Satellite TV]] ([[direct broadcast satellite]]) and [[Bell Fibe TV]] ([[IPTV]]) subsidiaries.

Bell Canada's principal competitors are: [[Rogers Communications]] in Ontario and Western Canada, [[Telus Communications]] in Quebec and Western Canada, [[Quebecor]] ([[Videotron]]) in Quebec plus other Global Wireless Infrastructure Providers such as [[American Tower]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff reporter |name-list-style= |date=November 5, 2020 |title=American Tower Enters Canadian Market With $3.5B Buy of InSite Wireless |url=https://www.insidetowers.com/american-tower-enters-canadian-market-with-3-5b-buy-of-insite-wireless/ |url-status= |format= |display-editors= |department= |type= |series= |language= |volume= |issue= |edition= |location= |publisher=Inside Towers |publication-date=November 5, 2020 |agency= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=December 15, 2024 |via= |url-access= |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Staff reporter |name-list-style= |date=March 18, 2021 |title=Canadian Towers Attract U.S. Interest |url=https://www.insidetowers.com/cell-tower-news-canadian-towers-attract-u-s-interest/ |url-status= |format= |display-editors= |department= |type= |series= |language= |volume= |issue= |edition= |location= |publisher=Inside Towers |publication-date=March 18, 2021 |agency= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=December 15, 2024 |via= |url-access= |quote=}}</ref> The company serves over 13 million phone lines and is headquartered at the [[Campus Bell]] complex in the borough of [[Verdun, Quebec|Verdun]] in Montreal.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Remiorz |first1=Ryan |author-link1= |last2= |first2= |author-link2= |date=February 4, 2021 |title=BCE to boost infrastructure spending to $4.7-billion this year to expand internet, 5G service |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bce-to-boost-infrastructure-spending-to-47-billion-this-year-to-expand/ |url-status= |format= |editor1-last=Posadzki |editor1-first=Alexandra |department=Financial and cybercrime reporter |work=The Canadian Press |language=English |publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]] |publication-date=February 4, 2021 |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=December 15, 2024 |via= |url-access= |quote=The Bell Canada head office on Nun's Island, in Montreal, on Aug. 5, 2015.(Photo Caption)}}</ref>

Bell Canada is one of the main assets of the holding company [[BCE Inc.]], an abbreviation of its full name, Bell Canada Enterprises. In addition to the Bell Canada telecommunications properties, BCE also owns [[Bell Media]] (which operates [[mass media]] properties including the national [[CTV Television Network]]) and holds significant interests in the [[Montreal Canadiens]] [[ice hockey]] club and [[Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment]], owner of several Toronto professional sports franchises.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bell-rogers-now-official-owners-of-mlse/article4493958/]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111100439/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bell-rogers-now-official-owners-of-mlse/article4493958/|date=January 11, 2013|title=Bell, Rogers now official owners of MLSE}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/bell-to-keep-canadiens-stake-1.997652|title=Bell to keep Canadiens stake|author=The Canadian Press|work=[[CBC.ca]]|date=December 9, 2011|access-date=December 9, 2011}}</ref> BCE ranked number 301 on the 2021 edition of the [[Forbes Global 2000]] list.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/companies/bce/?list=global2000/&sh=1081d18d52c4 |title=BCE on the Forbes Global 2000 List |work=[[Forbes]] |access-date=June 4, 2021}}</ref>

==History==
Historically, Bell Canada has been one of Canada's most important and most powerful companies and, in 1975, was listed as the fifth largest in the country. The company is named after the inventor of the telephone, [[Alexander Graham Bell]], who also co-founded [[Bell Telephone Company]] in Boston, Massachusetts. Bell Canada operated as the Canadian subsidiary of the [[Bell System]] from 1880 to 1975. However, unlike the other regional Bell operating companies, Bell Canada had its own research and development labs.

===Inception===
{{Main|Bell Homestead National Historic Site}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | align = left
 | width = 150

 | image1 = BellCanada1902.png
 | caption1 = Canadian Bell logo, 1902–1922. Note the [[Flag of the United States|USA-oriented stars]] used in other [[Bell System]] trademarks.

 | image2 = Logo 1947 ang.jpg
 | caption2 = The Bell Telephone Company of Canada logo, 1922–1940. Note the [[Maple leaf#History of use in Canada|Canada-oriented maple leaves]].
}}
In the mid-1870s, [[Alexander Graham Bell]], who was Scottish-born but lived in Canada, invented an [[Analog device|analogue]] [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] [[Telecommunication|telecommunication device]] that could simultaneously transmit and receive human speech. In March 1876 he successfully [[patent]]ed his invention in the United States under the title of "Improvement In Telegraphy" ({{US patent|174465}}). His device later adopted the name now used worldwide, the [[telephone]]. Bell also patented it in Canada and transferred 75% of the Canadian patent rights to his father, [[Alexander Melville Bell]], with the remaining 25% being awarded to Boston telephone manufacturer [[Charles Williams Jr. House|Charles Williams Jr.]] in exchange for 1,000 telephones to be provided to the Canadian market. This order could not be fulfilled due to surging demand in the United States.<ref name="IEEE -Magic Medium">

Collins, Larry; Prevey, W. Harry (ed.). [http://www.ieee.ca/diglib/library/electricity/pdf/P_one_1.pdf ''Electricity: The Magic Medium''], Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Canadian Region, 1985, p. 4, {{ISBN|0-9692316-0-1}}.</ref>

For a few years, the senior Bell and his friend and business associate Reverend [[Bell Homestead National Historic Site#Henderson Home|Thomas Philip Henderson]] collected royalties from the lease of telephones to customers in the limited late-1870s Canadian market, who either operated their own private telephone lines or subscribed to a third party [[telecommunications service provider]].<ref name="CanadianBio-Baker">{{cite DCB |first=Lawrence |last=Surtees |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bell_alexander_graham_15E.html |title=Bell, Alexander Graham |volume=15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090302110709/http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7894| archive-date= March 2, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Patten-Bell 1926">Patten, William; [[Alexander Melville Bell|Bell, Alexander Melville]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4KzVAAAAMAAJ ''Pioneering the Telephone in Canada''], Montreal: William Patten, 1926.</ref>

In 1879, Bell's father sold his Canadian rights to the [[Bell Telephone Company#Earliest division of Bell Company shares and corporate evolution|National Bell Telephone Company]], formed in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] earlier that year by the merger of the Bell Telephone Company and the [[New England Telephone and Telegraph Company]], which in 1880 reorganized as the American Bell Telephone Company, initiating the [[Bell System]]. That same year the Canadian division was renamed to "The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd.", eventually to be headed by U.S. executive [[Charles Fleetford Sise]] from [[Chicago]] who served as its first general manager.<ref name="BCE_History">{{cite web
  | title = About BCE&nbsp;– History
  | publisher = BCE Inc.
  | url = http://www.bce.ca/en/aboutbce/history/index.php
  | access-date = September 24, 2010
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101027095555/http://bce.ca/en/aboutbce/history/index.php
  | archive-date = October 27, 2010
| url-status = dead
  }}</ref><ref name="Babe -DCB" />

The first supplier of telephones to Bell was a company established by [[Thomas C. Cowherd]] and his son James H. Cowherd, in a three-storey brick building in [[Brantford|Brantford, Ontario]], creating Canada's first telephone factory.{{refn|

Bell had originally asked Boston manufacturer [[Charles Williams Jr. House|Charles Williams Jr.]] to provide an initial order of 1,000 telephones for use in Canada in exchange for a 25% interest in the telephone's Canadian patent rights, but Williams' small shop was only able to produce a fraction of that number. Bell then spoke with a Brantford friend, [[Thomas C. Cowherd|James Cowherd]] (1849? – Feb. 1881), who established Canada's first telephone factory, producing 2,398 telephones to Bell's specifications by 1881. Cowherd had been sent by Bell to Boston in 1878 to study Williams [[manufacturing]] [[List of industrial processes|processes]] for a number of months,<ref name="LFP-1953.10.03" /> and then returned to Brantford to both produce and further develop Bell's telephone models. The Brantford plant's first shipment of 19 telephones to Hamilton was made the same year on December 23, 1878.<ref name="LFP-1953.10.03">Waldie, Jean H. "Factory at Brantford Was World's First Phone Manufacturer", ''[[London Free Press]]'', October 3, 1953.</ref> Among Cowherd's designs was a transmitter fitted with a triple mouthpiece allowing three people to talk, and sing, simultaneously. James Cowherd's untimely early death due to tuberculosis was noted in major technical journals and led to the closure of the Bell Systems' manufacturing supplier in Brantford. Telephone production later resumed in Montreal, eventually leading to the creation of Northern Electric in 1895, later renamed Northern Telecom and then [[Nortel]].<ref name="IEEE -Magic Medium" /><ref name="B.H.S.-Reville.c">Reville, F. Douglas. [http://brantford.library.on.ca/localhistory/pdfs/reville1.pdf History of the County of Brant: Illustrated With Fifty Half-Tones Taken From Miniatures And Photographs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419162041/http://brantford.library.on.ca/localhistory/pdfs/reville1.pdf |date=April 19, 2012 }}, Brantford, ON: Brant Historical Society, Hurley Printing, 1920, p. 322. Retrieved from Brantford.Library.on.ca on May 4, 2012.</ref><ref name="NortelHistory1874-1900">

{{cite web
 |author=Nortel Networks
 |title=Corporate information: Nortel History&nbsp;– 1874 to 1899
 |publisher=Nortel Networks
 |year=2008
 |url=http://www.nortel.com/corporate/corptime/1874.html
 |access-date=September 1, 2008
|url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930180820/https://www.nortel.com/corporate/corptime/1874.html
 |archive-date=September 30, 2009
}}</ref>

<br /><br />A ''Brantford Expositor'' article later noted of the historic factory building's demise: "[In 1992 Brantford] City officials and heritage committee members... learned that a building that once housed the first telephone factory in the world had been approved for demolition. The embarrassing oversight came to light too late to stop wrecking crews, who were already tearing down the aged building at 32 Wharfe St.... The building, where equipment for [[Alexander Graham Bell]]'s first telephone was made, had even been pictured and written about in a city-printed brochure about the great inventor. A plaque erected by [the] [[Pioneers, a Volunteer Network|Telephone Pioneers of America]] heralding the building's significance had been stripped from the structure in the mid-1980s and given to the Brant County Museum".<ref>Ibbotson, Heather. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121107010952/http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/04/05/fires-have-claimed-many-historic-city-buildings City Has Lost Many Historic Buildings], ''[[Brantford Expositor]]'', April 5, 2012.</ref>

|group="Note"}} Thomas and James had been good friends of Alexander Graham Bell, providing stovepipe wire with which Bell conducted his [[Bell Homestead National Historic Site#Three great tests of the telephone|early telephone experiments]] from [[Bell Homestead National Historic Site#History|his father's home in Tutelo Heights, Ontario]], and also building some 2,398 telephones to Bell's specifications for the Canadian market until James Cowherd's untimely death from tuberculosis in 1881.<ref name="IEEE -Magic Medium" /><ref>Sharpe, Robert; Canadian Military Heritage Museum. [http://images.ourontario.ca/brant/82662/page/82?n= Soldiers and Warriors: The Early Volunteer Militia of Brant County: 1856–1866] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717031753/http://images.ourontario.ca/brant/82662/page/82?n= |date=July 17, 2012 }}, Brantford, ON: Canadian Military Heritage Museum, 1998, pg. 80, ref. citations No. 142 & 143, which in turn cites:
* F.A. Field. "The First Telephone Factory", ''The Blue Bell'', January 1931. Retrieved April 22, 2012.</ref> With a government-granted monopoly on Canadian long-distance telephone service,<ref name="Babe -DCB">{{cite DCB |first=Robert E. |last=Babe |title=Sise, Charles Fleetford |volume=14 |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sise_charles_fleetford_14E.html}}</ref> The Bell Telephone Company of Canada was serving 237,000 subscribers by 1914.

Since its early years The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd. had been known colloquially as "The Bell" or "Bell Telephone". On March 7, 1968, Canadian federal legislation renamed The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd. to Bell Canada.

===Competition and territory reduction===
[[File:Bell Telephone Building 1931.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Bell Telephone Building (Montreal)|Bell Telephone Building]] in Montreal was once the head office of Bell Canada.]]

Bell Canada extended lines from Nova Scotia to the foot of the [[Rocky Mountains]] in what is now Alberta. However, most of the attention given to meeting demand for service focused on major cities in Ontario, Quebec, and the [[Maritimes|Maritime Provinces]].

====Atlantic Canada====
During the late 19th century, Bell sold its Atlantic operations in the three Maritime provinces, where many small independent companies also operated and eventually came under the ownership of three provincial companies. Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada with several private companies, and a government operation that was transferred to the control of Canadian National Railways.

Bell acquired interests in all Atlantic companies during the early 1960s, starting with Newfoundland Telephone (which later was organized as [[NewTel Communications]]) on July 24, 1962. Bell acquired controlling interest in [[Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company]], later known as MT&T, which also owned PEI-based [[Island Telecom|Island Telephone]], and in Bruncorp, the parent company of [[NBTel]] in 1966. The purchase of MT&T was made despite efforts of the Nova Scotia legislature on September 10, 1966, to limit the voting power of any shareholder to 1000 votes. Bell-owned MT&T absorbed some 120 independent companies, most serving fewer than 50 customers each. Bell-owned NewTel purchased the CNR-owned [[Terra Nova Tel]] in 1988.

In the late 1990s, Newtel, Bruncorp, MT&T and Island Tel merged into Aliant, now [[Bell Aliant]] which owns many services in rural areas of Ontario and Quebec formerly owned by Bell Canada.

On January 1, 2011, Bell acquired xwave from Bell Aliant for $40 million, an information technology company offering sales and services in Atlantic Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/bell-completes-acquisition-of-xwave|title=Bell completes acquisition of xwave|website=www.bce.ca|language=en|access-date=April 26, 2018}}</ref>

====Quebec and Ontario====
[[File:Campus Bell in Montreal 1.jpg|thumb|Bell Canada's headquarters located on [[Nuns' Island]] in Montreal, Quebec.]]
[[File:BellPromenade.jpg|thumb|A Bell Store in [[The Promenade Shopping Centre]], [[Thornhill, Ontario]]]]
Independent companies appeared in many areas of Ontario, Quebec and Maritime provinces without adequate Bell Canada service. During the 20th century Bell acquired most of the independent companies in Ontario and Quebec, most notably the purchase of Nexxlink Technologies, a Montreal-based integrated IT solutions and telecommunications provider founded by Karol Brassard.<ref>{{cite press release
  | title = Bell Canada to Acquire Nexxlink Technologies Inc.
  | publisher = BCE, Inc.
  | date = December 9, 2004
  | url = http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/bell-canada-to-acquire-nexxlink-technologies-inc
  | access-date = April 2, 2013
  | archive-date = December 27, 2012
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121227005535/http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/bell-canada-to-acquire-nexxlink-technologies-inc
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> Alongside the acquisition of Charon Systems, Nexxlink now operates today as Bell Business Solutions—a division of Bell Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/116/116995.html|title=INDUSTRY CENTER – INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES |publisher=Yahoo! Finance }}</ref> Quebec, however, still has large swaths of relatively rural areas served by Telus Québec (formerly Québec Telephone, later acquired by [[Telus Communications]]) and [[Télébec]] (now owned by Bell Canada via Bell Aliant) and by some 20 small independent companies. As of 1980, Ontario still had some 30 independent companies, and Bell has not acquired any; the smaller ones were sold to larger independents with larger capital resources. [[Cellcom Communications]] is the largest franchisee of Bell Canada, currently operating 25 Bell stores in both Québec and Ontario regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cellcom.ca/en/about-cellcom-communications |title=Bell Canada Franchisee |access-date=April 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405125045/http://www.cellcom.ca/en/about-cellcom-communications |archive-date=April 5, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan ====
At separate times, the three Prairie provinces acquired Bell Canada operations and formed provincial utility services, investing to develop proper telephone services throughout those provinces; Bell Canada's investment in the prairies had been scant or insufficient relative to growth, and all three had various local telephone companies. The Alberta government's Alberta Government Telephones Commission and Manitoba Government Telephones purchased the Bell operations of their provinces in 1908. Saskatchewan's Department of Railways, Telegraphs and Telephones, established in June 1908, purchased the Bell operations on October 1, 1909; all three provinces' government operations eventually acquired the independent companies.

Having achieved a high level of development, Manitoba moved to privatize its telephone utility and Alberta privatized [[Alberta Government Telephones]] to create [[Telus Communications]] in the 1990s. Saskatchewan continues to own [[SaskTel]] as a [[crown corporation]] .Edmonton was served by a city-owned utility, Edmonton Telephones Corporation, that was sold to Telus in 1995. BCE re-gained ownership of the Manitoba system, now known as [[Bell MTS]], on March 17, 2017.<ref name="fp-dealcomplete">{{cite news|title=Bell MTS deal closes, kicking off $1-billion investment that brings 4G to Churchill, Manitoba|url=http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/bell-mts-deal-closes-kicking-off-1-billion-investment-with-4g-in-churchill-manitoba?__lsa=6e93-21ec|website=Financial Post| date=March 17, 2017 |access-date=March 17, 2017| last1=Jackson | first1=Emily }}</ref>

==== British Columbia ====
British Columbia, served today by [[Telus Communications]], was served by numerous small companies that mostly amalgamated to form British Columbia Telephone, later known as [[BC Tel]] (the last known acquisition was the Okanagan Telephone Company in the late 1970s), which served the province from the 1960s until its merger with Telus. (The amalgamations produced one anomaly: [[Atlin, British Columbia|Atlin]] is surrounded by the territory of [[Northwestel]], implying that the company that established service there was acquired by a company serving territories further south.)

==== Northern Canada ====
Although Bell Canada entered the Northwest Territories (NWT) with an exchange at [[Iqaluit]] (then known as Frobisher Bay, in the territory now known as Nunavut) in 1958, Canadian National Telecommunications, a subsidiary of [[Canadian National Railways]] (CNR), provided most of the telephone service in Canada's northern territories (specifically, Yukon, northern BC and the western NWT). CNR created [[Northwestel]] in 1979, and Bell Canada Enterprises acquired the company in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary. Bell Canada sold its 22 exchanges in the eastern region of the NWT to Northwestel in 1992, and BCE transferred ownership of the company to Bell Canada in 1999. Northwestel's operating area was in 2001 opened to long-distance competition (which has materialized only in the form of prepaid card business, and service to large national customers with some operating locations in the north) and in 2007 to resale of local telephone service (which has not yet occurred).

Northern British Columbia, northeastern Ontario and the James Bay region of northern Quebec were served by independent companies, though Bell Canada eventually provided service in more far-flung reaches of Ontario and Quebec, acquired ownership interests in companies serving large swaths of northwestern Quebec and northeastern Ontario, and in Northwestel.

===Divestiture and deregulation===
The Bell System had two main companies in the telephone industry in Canada: Bell Canada as a regional operating company (affiliated with [[American Telephone and Telegraph|AT&T]], with an ownership stake of approximately 39%)<ref name="The Invisible Empire">{{cite book
  | last1 = Rens
  | first1 = Jean-Guy
  | last2 = Roth
  | first2 = Kathe
  | title = The Invisible Empire
  | publisher = McGill-Queen's Press&nbsp;— MQUP, 2001
  | year = 2001
  | isbn = 978-0-7735-2052-3
  | pages = 217–218 }}</ref> and [[Nortel|Northern Electric]] as an equipment manufacturer (affiliated with [[Western Electric]], with an ownership stake of approximately 44%).<ref name="The Invisible Empire" /> The Bell Telephone Company of Canada and Northern Electric were structured similarly in Canada to the analogous portions of the Bell System in the United States; the regional operating company (Bell Canada) sold telephone services as a local exchange carrier, and Western Electric (Northern Electric) designed and manufactured telephone equipment.

As part of the [[Bell System#1956ConsentDecree|consent decree signed in 1956]] to resolve the antitrust lawsuit filed in 1949 by the United States Department of Justice, AT&T and the Bell System proper divested itself of [[Nortel|Northern Electric]] in 1956.

In October 1973, AT&T and Bell Canada signed an agreement stating that AT&T would no longer furnish Bell System communications and research to Bell Canada. AT&T's at-the-time chairman John DeButts explained that the main reason for this was because Bell Canada had developed its own research and development lab ([[Bell-Northern Research]]), making Bell Canada ready to serve its Canadian landline customers on its own. As a result, AT&T divested Bell Canada on June 30, 1975.

[[File:Bell Canada logo (1977).svg|thumb|Bell Canada logo used from 1977 until December 7, 1994.]]
Even though Bell Canada had been divested, it was allowed to participate in Bell System projects which could be completed shortly after its divestiture date.<ref name="beatriceco">{{Cite web |url=http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/canadian_bell_companies.html |title=Bell Canada (and other Canadian telecommunications companies) |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611165655/https://beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/canadian_bell_companies.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Porticus-BellSystemHistory">{{cite web
 |last         = Todd
 |first        = Kenneth P.
 |title        = A Capsule History of the Bell System
 |editor-last  = Massey
 |editor-first = David
 |publisher    = American Telephone & Telegraph Company
 |url          = http://www.porticus.org/bell/capsule_bell_system.html
 |access-date   = June 28, 2008
 |archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20080711065530/http://www.porticus.org/bell/capsule_bell_system.html
 |archive-date  = July 11, 2008
|url-status      = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref><ref name="Porticus-CanadianBellCompanies">{{cite web
 |author       = The Porticus Centre
 |title        = Bell Canada (and other Canadian telecommunications companies)
 |publisher    = The Porticus Centre
 |year         = 2007
 |url          = http://www.porticus.org/bell/canadian_bell_companies.html
 |access-date   = June 28, 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511213643/http://www.porticus.org/bell/canadian_bell_companies.html
 |archive-date = May 11, 2008
|url-status     = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref><ref name="Porticus-Nortel">{{cite web
 |author      = Nortel Networks
 |title       = Northern Electric&nbsp;— A Brief History
 |publisher   = Nortel Networks
 |url         = http://www.porticus.org/bell/northern_electric_history.html
 |access-date  = June 28, 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080712190123/http://www.porticus.org/bell/northern_electric_history.html
 |archive-date = July 12, 2008
|url-status     = dead
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

Northern Electric renamed itself Northern Telecom in 1976, which in turn became [[Nortel Networks]] in 1998 with the acquisition of Bay Networks.

Bell Canada acquired 100 percent of Northern Electric in 1964; starting in 1973, Bell's ownership stake in Northern Electric was diminished through public stock offerings, though it retained majority control. In 1983, as a result of deregulation, Bell Canada Enterprises (later shortened to [[BCE Inc.|BCE]]) was formed as the parent company to Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. As a result of the stock transaction used by Northern Telecom to purchase Bay Networks, BCE ceased to be the majority owner of Nortel, and in 2000, BCE spun out its share of Nortel, distributing its holdings to its shareholders.

Between 1980 and 1997, the federal government fully deregulated the telecommunications industry and Bell Canada's monopoly largely ended. Bell Canada currently provides local phone service only in major city centres in Ontario and Quebec.

In July 2006, Bell and former subsidiary Aliant completed a restructuring whereby Aliant, renamed [[Bell Aliant Regional Communications]], took over Bell's wireline operations in much of Ontario and Quebec (while continuing to use the "Bell" name in those regions), as well as its 63% ownership in rural lines operator Bell Nordiq (a publicly traded income trust that controls [[NorthernTel]] and [[Télébec]]). These are in addition to Bell Aliant's operations in [[Atlantic Canada]]. In turn, Bell has assumed responsibility for Bell Aliant's wireless and retail operations. Bell Aliant, now an income trust, is 44% owned by Bell.<ref name="BellAliant-About">{{cite web|author=Bell Aliant |author-link=Bell Aliant |title=Fact Sheet |publisher=Bell Aliant |year=2010 |url=http://www.aliant.ca/english/ir/factsheet.shtml |access-date=February 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529134215/http://www.aliant.ca/english/ir/factsheet.shtml |archive-date=May 29, 2008 }}</ref>

On April 30, 2007, the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) announced its decision to allow pay phone rates for Bell Canada, Telus, Bell Aliant, SaskTel, and MTS Allstream to increase from 25 cents to 50 cents, starting as early as June 1. The CRTC also permitted local rural rates to increase by the lesser of the annual rate of inflation or five percent, and removed price caps on optional rural services, such as call display and voicemail.<ref name="2007-CRTC-rate-increase">{{cite news|title=Hello? The 50-cent pay phone call is coming |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=April 30, 2007 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hello-the-50-cent-pay-phone-call-is-coming-1.634874 |access-date=December 14, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218201925/http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/04/30/payphones.html |archive-date=February 18, 2008 }}</ref>
On June 2, 2007, Bell Canada increased the cost of a local pay phone call to 50 cents when paid in cash and one dollar when paid by calling card or credit card,<ref>{{cite news
  | title = Bell's pay phone price increases to 50 cents Saturday
  | publisher = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]
  | date = June 1, 2007
  | url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/bell-s-pay-phone-price-increases-to-50-cents-saturday-1.634873
  | access-date = December 14, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071221063046/http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/06/01/payphone-increase.html| archive-date= December 21, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>
Bell's first increase in pay phone rates since 1981.<ref name="2007-CRTC-rate-increase" />

In 2009, Bell Canada purchased electronics retailer [[The Source (retailer)|The Source]] and all other assets of [[InterTAN|InterTAN Canada Ltd.]] from bankrupt [[Circuit City (1949–2009 company)|Circuit City]].<ref name="Star-TheSource">{{cite news
  | title = Bell buys 756 electronics stores from The Source
  | publisher = Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.
  | author = Dana Flavelle
  | author2 = Chris Sorensen
  | date= March 3, 2009
  | url = https://www.thestar.com/business/2009/03/03/bell_buys_756_electronics_stores_from_the_source.html
  | access-date= March 7, 2016
}}</ref>

Bell has deployed [[Multiprotocol Label Switching|MPLS]] on their nationwide fibre ring network to support consumer and enterprise-level IP applications, such as [[IPTV]] and [[VoIP]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

On March 17, 2017, BCE Inc. completed its acquisition of [[Manitoba Telecom Services]].<ref name="fp-dealcomplete"/>

== Criticism ==
Bell Canada has faced controversy and scandal. In late 2011, Bell Canada admitted to a policy of [[bandwidth throttling]] of [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]] traffic across its network when it announced it would stop the practice of "traffic shaping" during periods of high demand beginning in March 2012.<ref name="GlobeThrottle">{{cite news |author1=Rita Trichur |title=Bell to stop 'throttling' Internet traffic |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/bell-to-stop-throttling-internet-traffic/article4085248/ |access-date=January 2, 2019 |work=The Globe and Mail |publisher=Phillip Crawley |date=June 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616100234/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/bell-to-stop-throttling-internet-traffic/article4085248// |archive-date=June 16, 2018}}</ref> In November 2011, only a few weeks before, the CRTC issued a ruling that stopped the controversial practice of usage-based billing of smaller internet service providers who purchase space on Bell Canada networks, providing a fee structure based on total capacity needed. Bell Canada had originally wanted to charge providers by how much data each user downloaded.<ref name="GlobeThrottle" />

In May 2017, the email addresses of 1.9 million Bell customers were stolen, along with the name and phone numbers of 1.7 million customers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bell-data-breach-customer-names-phone-numbers-emails-leak-1.4116608|title=1.9 million Bell customer email addresses stolen by 'anonymous hacker'|last=Braga|first=Matthew|date=May 15, 2017|work=[[CBC News]]|access-date=January 26, 2018}}</ref> Then in January 2018, there was another data breach affecting about 100 thousand Bell customers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/01/24/bell-canada-data-breach-could-be-stepping-stone-to-more-fraud-espionage-expert_a_23342716/|title=Bell Canada Data Breach Could Be 'Stepping Stone' To More Fraud, Espionage: Expert|last=Omar|first=Mohamed|date=January 25, 2018|work=[[HuffPost]] Canada|access-date=January 26, 2018}}</ref>

Bell Canada's mobile phone services has been criticized for monopolistic practices, including during its acquisition of MTS.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Klass |first1=Benjamin |last2=Winseck |first2=Dwayne |title=Why Bell's Bid to Buy MTS is Bad News |url=http://www.cmcrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Final-CMCRP-Report-Bell-MTS-Bid-25May16-1.pdf}}</ref>

== Services ==
[[File:BellCO31Finch4.JPG|thumb|A Bell Central Office in Toronto]]
Bell Canada provides many different types of telecommunications services.

===Voice===
Bell Canada provides standard [[Plain Old Telephone Service|voice service]]. It used to offer [[VoIP]] to customers, branded as "Digital Voice". Businesses can still obtain VoIP service. It now offers <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://business.bell.ca/shop/small-business/total-connect|title=Phone service &#124; Small Business &#124; Bell Canada}}</ref> BTC (Bell Total Connect) SIP service as a digital voice package.

===Voicemail===
Bell Home Phone and [[Bell Mobility]] provide [[voicemail]] service as an optional feature for residences and businesses. Bell Prepaid customers, however, receive a basic voice mail at no additional charge. The complimentary voice mail can store five messages of one minute each, for up to five days.

===Wireless===
{{Main|Bell Mobility}}
[[File:Vieux Limoilou, Québec city 03.jpg|thumb|Bell Mobility van]]
[[Bell Mobility]] operates a [[Mobile phone|cellular]] network in all Canadian provinces. It also owns [[Virgin Mobile Canada]] {{As of|2009|05|lc=y|df=us}}. While it created the Solo Mobile brand in 1999, Bell shut down all standalone Solo stores in 2011 while discontinuing third-party sales of all Solo phones in November 2011. The brand continues to be active for its current customers, but there are no incentives to encourage new subscriptions.

=== Television ===
[[File:BellCanadaVan.JPG|thumb|left|A Bell Fibe Van]]

Formerly known as ExpressVu, [[Bell Satellite TV]] is a [[satellite television]] service provider. There is also a mobile TV service, [[Bell Mobility#Mobile TV|Bell Mobile TV]], and a locked [[IPTV]] service known as [[Bell Fibe TV]] and [[Alt TV]]. The latter is available in most of [[Alberta]], British Columbia, the [[Greater Toronto Area]], [[Ottawa]], [[Montreal]], [[Quebec City|Québec City]] and Atlantic Canada.

=== Internet ===
[[Bell Internet]] provides high speed [[Digital subscriber line|DSL]] and fiber to the home [[FTTH]] Internet service in many areas where it offers phone service. DSL is offered in various speeds ranging from 500&nbsp;kbit/s to 100&nbsp;Mbit/s download and 256&nbsp;kbit/s to 10&nbsp;Mbit/s upload on DSL while up to 8&nbsp;Gbit/s on fiber optic depending on what the local infrastructure can support.

Bell began offering [[Fiber to the x|Fibre-to-the-node]] Internet access to some subscribers in 2010. Bell markets this service under the name "Fibe".<ref>{{cite web |title=Bell Fibe |url=http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpInt_Access.page |access-date=July 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110706165903/http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpInt_Access.page |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many urban Fibe regions can access all speeds up to and including 50+mbps down and 15+mbps up but some rural Fibe regions can only obtain 16&nbsp;Mbit/s down and 1&nbsp;Mbit/s up. Non-Fibe regions are limited to legacy DSL technology, supporting speeds of up to 7&nbsp;Mbit/s down and 1&nbsp;Mbit/s up. Bell Canada has now rolled out Fibre to the Home services to certain subscribers across Eastern Canada, this service can provide guaranteed download of 3&nbsp;Gbit/s and upload speeds of 3&nbsp;Gbit/s. In August 2019, the company announced it would cut roughly 200,000 households from a rural internet expansion program after a federal regulator lowered wholesale broadband prices that major telecom companies can charge smaller internet providers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-canada-internet|title=Bell scales back rural internet plans after CRTC decision on rates|last=Bickis|first=Ian|date=August 19, 2019|website=CBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/bell-canada-cuts-fwa-rural-broadband-plan/|title=Bell Canada cuts FWA rural broadband plan|date=August 20, 2019|website=Mobile World Live|language=en-GB|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref>

In a press release issued February 24, 2022, Bell announced that it has acquired Internet service provider EBOX. Bell wishes to keep the brand and the activities of EBOX and let the company continue to operate independently while remaining based in Longueuil.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/bell-acquires-longueuil-based-internet-provider-ebox-819104090.html|title=Bell acquires Longueuil-based Internet provider EBOX|website=newswire.ca|language=en-ca}}</ref>

=== Legacy ===
Bell previously offered Bell Home Monitoring, also known as Bell Gardium.

Bell Canada also previously offered [[cable television]] services in the United Kingdom via '''Bell Cablemedia [[Public limited company|plc]]''' (a joint venture with [[Jones Intercable]] and [[Cable & Wireless plc]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.apollo.io/companies/Bell-Cablemedia-PLC/5ed0b19d922ba80001031282|title=Bell Cablemedia PLC - Overview, Competitors, and Employees|access-date=October 2, 2020|archive-date=March 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331145714/https://www.apollo.io/companies/Bell-Cablemedia-PLC/5ed0b19d922ba80001031282|url-status=dead}}</ref> from 1994 until 1997, when [[Vidéotron]] first sold its UK operations to Bell Cablemedia, after which Bell Cablemedia and the UK operations of [[NYNEX|NYNEX Corporation]] merged with Cable & Wireless plc to form [[Cable & Wireless Communications]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB845987368577989000|title=Cable & Wireless Plans Merger With Nynex, Bell Canada Units|publisher=www.wsj.com|date=October 23, 1996|access-date=October 2, 2020}}</ref>

== Marketing ==
Bell Canada created the [[Frank and Gordon]] beavers to advertise its products from 2006 to 2008.

Coinciding with its advertising campaign as part of its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bell introduced a new logo and minimalist ad style, with the slogans "Today just got better" (with emphasis on the suffix "'''er'''") in English Canada and "La vie est Bell" (a pun on "La vie est Belle"&nbsp;— {{langx|fr|life is beautiful}}) in French Canada.<ref name="BCE-2008Branding">{{cite press release
  | title = Bell to launch its new national brand tomorrow
  | publisher = BCE, Inc.
  | date = August 7, 2008
  | url = http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/corp/2008/08/07/74829.html
  | access-date = August 7, 2008
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080810165322/http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/corp/2008/08/07/74829.html| archive-date= August 10, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> The font used in Bell's marketing is a custom typeface known as 'Bell Slim', by Canadian typeface designer Ian Brignell.

== Historical financial performance ==
The financial performance of the company is reported to shareholders on an annual basis. The unit (except where noted) is millions of Canadian dollars.

{| class="wikitable float-left" style="text-align: right;"
!Year
!Revenue
!Net Income
!Total Assets
!Employees
|-
|2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2010-annual-report.pdf|title=2010 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213224538/http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2010-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}18,069
|{{increase}}2,165
|{{increase}}39,276
|{{increase}}50,200
|-
|2011<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/financial-reporting/2011-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2011 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213224432/http://www.bce.ca/investors/financial-reporting/2011-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}19,497
|{{increase}}2,574
|{{increase}}39,426
|{{increase}}55,250
|-
|2012<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2012-annual-report-accessible.pdf|title=2012 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213224111/http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2012-annual-report-accessible.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}19,975
|{{increase}}3,053
|{{increase}}40,968
|{{increase}}55,500
|-
|2013<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2013-annual-report.pdf|title=2013 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213224012/http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2013-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}20,400
|{{decrease}}2,388
|{{increase}}45,384
|{{increase}}55,830
|-
|2014<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2014-annual-report.pdf|title=2014 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213223827/http://www.bce.ca/investors/annual-report/2014-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}21,042
|{{increase}}2,718
|{{increase}}46,297
|{{increase}}57,234
|-
|2015<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2015/2015-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2015 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=June 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610210511/http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2015/2015-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}21,514
|{{increase}}2,730
|{{increase}}47,993
|{{decrease}}49,968
|-
|2016<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2016/2016-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2016 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220145626/http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2016/2016-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}21,719
|{{increase}}3,087
|{{increase}}50,108
|{{decrease}}48,090
|-
|2017<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2017/2017-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2017 Annual Report|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213204434/http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2017/2017-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}22,719
|{{decrease}}2,970
|{{increase}}54,263
|{{increase}}51,679
|-
|2018<ref name="2018 Annual Report">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2018/2018-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2018 Annual Report|access-date=April 28, 2019|archive-date=May 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523171131/http://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2018/2018-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}23,468
|{{increase}}2,973
|{{increase}}57,100
|{{increase}}52,790
|-
|2019<ref name="2019 Annual Report">{{cite web|url=https://www.bce.ca/investors/AR-2019/2019-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2019 Annual Report|access-date=February 3, 2021|archive-date=October 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025162601/https://bce.ca/investors/AR-2019/2019-bce-annual-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{increase}}23,964
|{{increase}}3,253
|{{increase}}60,146
|{{decrease}}52,100
|-
|2020<ref name="2020 Annual Report">{{cite web|url=https://bce.ca/investors/AR-2020/2020-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2020 Annual Report|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|{{decrease}}22,883
|{{decrease}}2,699
|{{increase}}60,665
|{{decrease}}50,704
|-
|2021<ref name="2021 Annual Report">{{cite web|url=https://bce.ca/investors/AR-2021/2021-bce-annual-report.pdf|title=2021 Annual Report|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|{{increase}}23,449
|{{increase}}2,892
|{{increase}}66,764
|{{decrease}}49,781
|-
|2022<ref name="2022 Annual Financial Report">{{cite web|url=https://bce.ca/investors/AR-2022/2022-bce-annual-financial-report.pdf|title=2022 Annual Financial Report|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|{{increase}}24,174
|{{increase}}2,926
|{{increase}}69,329
|{{decrease}}44,610
|-
|2023<ref name="2023 Annual Financial Report">{{cite web|url=https://bce.ca/investors/AR-2023/2023-bce-annual-financial-report.pdf|title=2023 Annual Financial Report|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>
|{{increase}}24,673
|{{decrease}}2,327
|{{increase}}71,940
|{{increase}}45,132
|-
|}

== Leadership ==

=== President ===

# [[Andrew Robertson (businessman)|Andrew Robertson]], 1880–1890
# [[Charles Fleetford Sise]], 1890–1915
# Lewis Brown McFarlane, 1915–1925
# [[Charles Fleetford Sise Jr.|Charles Fleetford Sise, Jr.]], 1925–1944
# [[Frederick Johnson (businessman)|Frederick Johnson]], 1944–1953
# [[Thomas Wardrope Eadie]], 1953–1963
# [[Marcel Vincent]], 1963–1968
# Robert Carleton Scrivener, 1968–1973
# [[A. Jean de Grandpré|Albert Jean de Grandpré]], 1973–1976
# James Carden Thackray, 1976–1983
# Joseph Victor Raymond Cyr, 1983–1986
# Léonce Montambault, 1987–1989
# [[Jean Monty|Jean Claude Monty]], 1989–1991
# Robert Kearney, 1991–1993
# John Thomas McLennan, 1994–1997
# [[Ronald Osborne|Ronald Walter Osborne]], 1997–1998
# John Alexander MacDonald, 1998–1999
# John William Sheridan, 2000–2003
# [[Michael Sabia|Michael John Sabia]], 2000–2005
# [[George A. Cope|George Alexander Cope]], 2005–2020
# [[Mirko Bibic]], 2020–present

===Chairmen of the board===
# Lewis Brown McFarlane, 1925–1930
# [[Charles Fleetford Sise Jr.|Charles Fleetford Sise, Jr.]], 1944–1953
# [[Frederick Johnson (businessman)|Frederick Johnson]], 1953–1957
# [[Thomas Wardrope Eadie]], 1957–1968
# [[Marcel Vincent]], 1968–1972
# Robert Carleton Scrivener, 1973–1976
# [[A. Jean de Grandpré|Albert Jean de Grandpré]], 1976–1983
# James Carden Thackray, 1983–1985
# Joseph Victor Raymond Cyr, 1986–1996
# [[Lynton Wilson|Lynton Ronald Wilson]], 1996–
# [[Jean Monty|Jean Claude Monty]], –2002
# [[Richard Currie|Richard James Currie]], 2002–2009
# Thomas Charles O'Neill, 2009–2016
# [[Gordon Nixon|Gordon Melbourne Nixon]], 2016–present

== See also ==
{{Portal|Companies|Telephones}}
* [[American Telephone & Telegraph]], AT&T, an earlier parent and successor to American Bell
* [[Bell Centre]], a hockey arena in Montreal
* [[Bell Mobility]], the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada
* [[Bell System]], the Bell Telephone / AT&T-led companies which provided phone services
* [[Bell Telephone Memorial]], a large monument honouring the inventor in Brantford, Ontario
* [[Bell Tower (Edmonton)|Bell Tower]], an office tower in Edmonton
* [[International Bell Telephone Company]], the Bell Telephone's early European division
* [[List of largest companies by revenue]]
* [[List of public corporations by market capitalization]]
* [[List of telephone operating companies]]
* [[List of United States telephone companies]]
* [[National Bell Telephone Company]], the very earliest parent company
* [[Place Bell (Ottawa)|Place Bell]], an office tower in Ottawa
* [[Telephone Pavilion (Expo 67)]], also known as the Bell Telephone Pavilion
* [[Thomas Cowherd]], who helped establish Canada's first telephone factory

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bell Canada}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2023-04-23|En-Bell Canada-article.ogg}}
* [https://www.bell.ca/ Official website]
* [http://www.bce.ca BCE Inc. website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080511213643/http://www.porticus.org/bell/canadian_bell_companies.html Bell Telephone Company of Canada –  public historical documents]
* [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ownership/eng/title_org.htm#B CRTC chart of Bell Canada's assets]
* [http://riotsquad.tv/clients/bell Bell Canada pixel art ad campaign]
* [https://bellsystemmemorial.com/canadian_bell_companies.html Bell Telephone Company of Canada (from Bell System Memorial)]
* [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/VQ_P4_2_EN.html Operator. May I help you?: Bell Canada's 125 Years]&nbsp;– Bell Canada's origins (illustrated with many early photographs)

{{Bell Canada Enterprises}}
{{Bell Media}}
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{{AT&T Spinoffs}}
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[[Category:Bell Canada| ]]
[[Category:1880 establishments in Quebec]]
[[Category:Bell System]]
[[Category:Canadian brands]]
[[Category:Companies based in Montreal]]
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[[Category:Corporate spin-offs]]
[[Category:Information technology companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Internet service providers of Canada]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1880]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian companies established in 1880]]