Phone prefixes in Ajax-Pickering, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

77

Telephone numbers covered

770,000

Carriers

19

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

December 22, 1999

Most recent assignment

May 27, 2025

Ajax-Pickering’s share of its area codes

Within area code 289, Ajax-Pickering accounts for only 29 of 772 prefixes (3.8%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 87 rate centres. Within area code 905, Ajax-Pickering accounts for only 22 of 773 prefixes (2.8%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres. Within area code 365, Ajax-Pickering accounts for only 20 of 702 prefixes (2.8%): the code is dominated by Markham and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 742, Ajax-Pickering accounts for only 6 of 146 prefixes (4.1%): the code is dominated by Brampton and spread over 68 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS Mobility holds the largest share at 14 prefixes, 18.2% of the total, ahead of 18 other carriers. Code by code: in 289, TELUS Mobility leads with 4 of 29 prefixes ahead of 13 others; in 905, Bell Canada leads with 7 of 22 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 365, Iristel Inc. leads with 8 of 20 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 742, TELUS Mobility leads with 3 of 6 prefixes ahead of 3 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Ajax-Pickering’s 4 area codes, while 10 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

31 of Ajax-Pickering’s 77 prefixes (40.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) and Distributel. This is a sort by name, not a licence lookup, and a mobile prefix may have been ported to another network since.

How the allocation was built up

Ajax-Pickering’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2025. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 15 prefixes went to 7 carriers. 11 prefixes (14%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 16 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Ajax-Pickering’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, TELUS Mobility and Bell Mobility: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS Mobility in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), Beanfield Technologies Inc. (2021) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Ajax-Pickering.

Ajax-Pickering’s 77 prefixes provide 770,000 numbers, which corresponds to a mid-sized city or a well-established suburb that every major carrier wants a slice of.

No single carrier dominates Ajax-Pickering: the leader, TELUS Mobility, holds only 18.2% of the prefixes against 18 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Demand remains steady: 24.2% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Ajax-Pickering (Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless)): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

11 undated in the register.

Dialling a Ajax-Pickering number

Ajax-Pickering is served by 4 overlaid area codes (289, 905, 365 and 742). A 742 number is no more “out of town” than a 289 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Ajax-Pickering shares area codes 289, 905, 365 and 742 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa, St. Catharines-Thorold, Oakville, Markham, Cooksville and Thornhill. The largest of them, Hamilton, holds 221 prefixes in 289, 365, 742 and 905; the smallest on the list, Maple, has just 28.

What a Ajax-Pickering number tells you

A number attached to Ajax-Pickering tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often TELUS Mobility. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 19 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Ajax-Pickering: code 289-423 is recorded for TELUS Mobility, so every 289-423-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Ajax-Pickering, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Ajax-Pickering prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 77 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

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