Cellphones mark 40 years in Canada. A look back since the 1st call

The first wireless call in Canadian history took place 40 years ago on July 1, 1985, when then-Toronto-mayor Art Eggelton called his Montreal counterpart Jean Drapeau.

Pierre Robitaille remembers feeling embarrassed in 1985 when he made his cellphone calls from a bulky device that came with its own carrying case.

Now 86 years old, Robitaille was one of the first people in Canada to sign up for a wireless plan when they became available 40 years ago, on July 1, 1985.

As an electrician, Robitaille wanted a way to keep in touch with colleagues and clients while on the road at various construction sites. First came a car phone, then came the early hand-held versions, which included a mobile device and a suitcase in which to carry it.

“It wasn’t very heavy but it was embarrassing, it was big,” Robitaille said of the mid-80s cellphone, in an interview from his home in the western Quebec town of St-André-Avellin.

The first wireless call in Canadian history took place 40 years ago on July 1, 1985, when then-Toronto mayor Art Eggleton used a 10-pound mobile phone to call his Montreal counterpart, Jean Drapeau.

Telecommunications company Rogers says that in the first month, mobile networks in Canada handled 100 calls per day. Today, that number has risen to 100 million calls, as well as 6.5 billion megabytes of data on the Rogers network alone.

Oakville, Ont., resident Peter Kent was another early mobile phone adopter — though the initiative came from his boss rather than himself. His car phone had to be installed professionally and cost around $3,500, he recalled in a recent interview.

At first, he was unsure if he should be grateful for the new connectivity. “I said, ‘why are we doing this?’ And then (my boss) said, ‘well, when I want you, I want you.'”