Phone prefixes in

In numbers

In-service prefixes

19

Telephone numbers covered

190,000

Carriers

7

Area codes

19

’s share of its area codes

Within area code 204, accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Winnipeg and spread over 245 rate centres. Within area code 250, accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 306, accounts for only 1 of 777 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 403, accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 142 rate centres. Area code 416 belongs to alone: all 1 of its in-service prefixes (416-310 through 416-310) sit in this one rate centre, with no other community sharing the code. Within area code 418, accounts for only 1 of 777 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Quebec and spread over 258 rate centres. Within area code 450, accounts for only 1 of 775 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Granby and spread over 129 rate centres. Within area code 506, accounts for only 1 of 677 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Moncton and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 514, accounts for only 1 of 778 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Montreal and spread over 7 rate centres. Within area code 519, accounts for only 1 of 779 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres. Within area code 604, accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 613, accounts for only 1 of 772 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 705, accounts for only 1 of 770 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 709, accounts for only 1 of 630 prefixes (0.2%): the code is dominated by St. John's and spread over 209 rate centres. Within area code 780, accounts for only 1 of 780 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres. Within area code 807, accounts for only 1 of 293 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Thunder Bay and spread over 85 rate centres. Within area code 819, accounts for only 1 of 770 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 902, accounts for only 1 of 782 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 905, accounts for only 1 of 773 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 10 prefixes, 52.6% of the total, ahead of 6 other carriers. Code by code: MTS Inc. is the only holder in 204; TELUS is the only holder in 250; SaskTel is the only holder in 306; TELUS is the only holder in 403; Bell Canada is the only holder in 416; Bell Canada is the only holder in 418; Bell Canada is the only holder in 450; Aliant Telecom(NB) is the only holder in 506; Bell Canada is the only holder in 514; Bell Canada is the only holder in 519; TELUS is the only holder in 604; Bell Canada is the only holder in 613; Bell Canada is the only holder in 705; Aliant Telecom (NF) is the only holder in 709; TELUS is the only holder in 780; Bell Canada is the only holder in 807; Bell Canada is the only holder in 819; Aliant Telecom (NS) is the only holder in 902; Bell Canada is the only holder in 905. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of ’s 19 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of ’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 19 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, TELUS, Aliant Telecom (NF) and Aliant Telecom (NS). A call showing a number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

The register dates none of ’s assignments: all 19 prefixes predate CNAC’s record-keeping, the signature of an old, settled network where nothing has been added in decades.

’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, TELUS and Aliant Telecom (NF): 7 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived.

has only 19 prefixes, or 190,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

Bell Canada leads with 52.6% of the prefixes, but 6 competitors have set up in : a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Dialling a number

is served by 19 overlaid area codes (204, 250, 306, 403, 416, 418, 450, 506, 514, 519, 604, 613, 705, 709, 780, 807, 819, 902 and 905). A 905 number is no more “out of town” than a 204 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

shares area codes 204, 250, 306, 403, 416, 418, 450, 506, 514, 519, 604, 613, 705, 709, 780, 807, 819, 902 and 905 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Hull, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax. The largest of them, Toronto, holds 778 prefixes in 416; the smallest on the list, Barrie, has just 71.

What a number tells you

A number attached to tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in , most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 7 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and a area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for : code 416-310 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 416-310-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “, ” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every prefix

Each row is an in-service central-office code recorded for , with its original holder and year of assignment.

Allocated prefixes

Elsewhere in