William (Bill) Ward
As part of Canadian Black Book’s effort to celebrate 60 years in providing automotive data and analytics to the Canadian automotive industry, the company published a news release about William (Bill) Ward and the creation of CBB.
According to the company, Ward entered into a partnership with Black Book in the United States in 1961 at a time when Black Book was already in operation for six years. William Ward Publishing licensed the Black Book trademark for use in Canada, which then gave way to the creation of Canadian Black Book.
“The history and reputation of this company has secured its place as the most well-known and trusted source for vehicle valuation data for Canada’s OEMs, banks, financiers, insurers and dealers alike,” said Yolanda Biswah, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Canadian Black Book.
CBB said Ward began the company by traveling from dealer-to-dealer across Ontario to sell little black books with valuation information for all makes and models of cars in Canada—something that helped build CBB’s reputation.
To this day, CBB auction spotters are present at all major Canadian physical auctions and online, which the company said is a continuation of Ward’s vision of providing the Canadian automotive industry with Canadian data, “driven by Canadian people.”
“What sets us apart is our commitment to providing Canada’s auto sector with Canadian specific data and advanced analytics,” said Biswah. “Bill Ward figured this out many years ago, and today we continue his legacy. Our clients constantly tell us how valuable our domestic based data is to assist with their business goals.”
In 2000, CBB stepped into the digital age and started to distribute its data in a digital format. By 2001, the CBB Trade-In Tool was launched, and in 2002 the company launched the CandianBlackBook.com website.
Ward eventually handed the business over to his daughter Kathy Ward in 2006, who in 2015 negotiated the sale of Canadian Black Book to Hearst, which owns and operates Black Book (U.S.). Kathy Ward passed away in 2017 due to cancer, and a Kathy Ward Memorial Golf Tournament is held in her honour every year—with money raised donated to the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.
“Today, the company has grown into a leading data provider of vehicle valuations, residual value forecast solutions, data and analytics and VIN decoding,” said CBB. “Canadian Black Book tools and information are considered the authority for vehicle values across the industry.”
