Phone prefixes in Bear Canyon, AB

Bear Canyon, AB is a rate centre in the Canadian numbering plan. CNAC records 3 in-service prefixes there, held by 3 carriers and spread across 2 area codes (825, 780). With 3 prefixes, Bear Canyon is a small rate centre within Alberta: 143rd of 337, holding 0.1% of the province’s prefixes, and 1558th of 2,921 rate centres across Canada.

Background reading: Canadian area codes, overlays, and what a 416 number actually tells you · Caller ID spoofing, STIR/SHAKEN, and how to actually block calls in Canada

In numbers

In-service prefixes
3
Telephone numbers covered
30,000
Carriers
3
Area codes
2
Provinces and territories
1
First assignment
May 18, 2018
Most recent assignment
January 17, 2022

Bear Canyon’s share of its area codes

Within area code 825, Bear Canyon accounts for only 2 of 769 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Calgary and spread over 301 rate centres. Within area code 780, Bear Canyon accounts for only 1 of 780 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Edmonton and spread over 195 rate centres.

Area codesPrefixes herePrefixes in codeShareRangeLargest rate centre
82527690.3 %825-270825-585Calgary
78017800.1 %780-595780-595Edmonton

Who holds these numbers

Distributel holds the largest share at 1 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 2 other carriers. Code by code: in 825, Distributel leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; TELUS is the only holder in 780. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Bear Canyon’s 2 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Carrier825780Total
Distributel11
ISP Telecom Inc.11
TELUS11

Wireless and wireline

None of Bear Canyon’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 3 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Distributel, ISP Telecom Inc and TELUS. A call showing a Bear Canyon number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Bear Canyon’s dated assignments run from 2018 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 1 prefixes went to 1 carrier. 1 prefixes (33%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Bear Canyon’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Distributel in 2018. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2022) and Distributel (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Bear Canyon.

Bear Canyon has just 3 prefixes (30,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Bear Canyon: the leader, Distributel, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 2 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Growth is recent: 50.0% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2015–2019. Bear Canyon is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

PeriodPrefixesCarriers
2015–201911
2020–202411

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Bear Canyon number

Bear Canyon is served by 2 overlaid area codes (825 and 780). A 780 number is no more “out of town” than a 825 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Bear Canyon shares area codes 825 and 780 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Fox Creek, Peace River, St. Albert and Sherwood Park. The largest of them, Edmonton, holds 365 prefixes in 780 and 825; the smallest on the list, High River, has just 9.

Rate centreProvinceShared codesPrefixesCarriers
EdmontonAB780, 82536517
CalgaryAB82514615
Fort McMurrayAB780, 825358
Grande PrairieAB780, 8253310
Fox CreekAB780, 825209
Peace RiverAB780, 825186
St. AlbertAB780, 825176
Sherwood ParkAB780, 825155
Drayton ValleyAB780, 825147
LloydminsterAB780, 825146
CamroseAB780, 825137
EdsonAB780, 825137
BonnyvilleAB780, 825126
WetaskiwinAB780, 825127
High LevelAB780, 825115
LeducAB780, 825115
Red DeerAB825116
St. PaulAB780, 825117
LethbridgeAB825106
High RiverAB82595

What a Bear Canyon number tells you

A number attached to Bear Canyon tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Alberta, most often Distributel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 3 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 Alberta area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Bear Canyon: code 825-270 is recorded for Distributel, so every 825-270-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Bear Canyon, Alberta” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Bear Canyon prefix

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

PrefixCarrierAssigned
780-595TELUSundated
825-270Distributel2018
825-585ISP Telecom Inc.2022

Frequently asked

What is the area code for Bear Canyon?

Bear Canyon does not have one area code but 2: 825 and 780. The best-stocked is 825. All are dialled with ten digits and none is “more local” than another.

Is a call from Bear Canyon a cellphone or a landline?

More likely a landline or a VoIP service: mobility brands hold only 0.0% of Bear Canyon’s prefixes.

Which carrier is behind a Bear Canyon number?

In the register, Distributel holds the most prefixes in Bear Canyon (1 of 3), ahead of 2 other carriers. Code 825-270, for instance, belongs to Distributel.

Is this Bear Canyon number a scam?

The register cannot say: it records who a prefix was issued to, not who is calling. Search the full number above to see the reports filed against it.

What is the newest prefix in Bear Canyon?

The latest code brought into service is 825-585, assigned to ISP Telecom Inc. on January 17, 2022. At the other end, the oldest dated prefix, 825-270, goes to Distributel (May 18, 2018). A number in a recent prefix almost always belongs to a subscriber who signed up after that date.

Allocated prefixes

All 3 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Bear Canyon, AB

780-595 · 825-270 · 825-585

Elsewhere in Alberta

Rate centreProvincePrefixesCarriers
Medicine HatAB4413
BanffAB3113
CanmoreAB2613
AirdrieAB2310
StrathmoreAB2212
BrooksAB199

Allocation source: Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNAC), the registry that records which carrier a central-office code was originally issued to. An allocation says who was issued the prefix, not who serves the number today: numbers can be ported between carriers, and caller ID can be spoofed outright.