Canada411.ca
Directory Assistance

For decades, most of the United States and Canada has used 411 as the telephone number for local directory assistance.

411 service is generally provided by the local telephone company or wireless provider. Approximately 6 billion calls are made to 411 within the United States each year.

Since deregulation, the price of using 411 has increased to about $1.25 USD in the U.S., compared to $0.50 CAD in most of Canada.

The person or location typically must be listed in the printed telephone book, although in some areas it is possible to be listed in the directory assistance database, but not in the printed book. A number which is neither available by directory assistance nor printed in the telephone book is called unlisted, and a number which is available by directory assistance but not printed in the telephone book is called non-published. http://www.forextradingbroker.ca

In the U.S., residential listings are called white pages, and business listings organized by category are yellow pages.

Directory assistance cannot provide unlisted numbers or cellular telephone numbers. Telephone companies in the U.S. charge a fee to un-list a phone number. There are several new free directory assistance telephone numbers funded by advertisements, which can be accessed by dialing a toll-free number.