Phone prefixes in Campbell River, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

22

Telephone numbers covered

220,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 12, 2000

Most recent assignment

May 1, 2026

Campbell River’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Campbell River accounts for only 12 of 781 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 236, Campbell River accounts for only 5 of 745 prefixes (0.7%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 778, Campbell River accounts for only 5 of 779 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 6 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, TELUS leads with 4 of 12 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 236, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 5 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 778, TELUS leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Campbell River’s 3 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

8 of Campbell River’s 22 prefixes (36.4%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Bell Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Shaw Telecom Inc, Videotron Ltd and Bell West Inc. 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

Campbell River’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2026. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 5 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 6 prefixes (27%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 3 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Campbell River’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2000. The most recent arrivals are Fibernetics Corporation (2026), Iristel Inc. (2024) and Videotron Ltd. (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Campbell River.

Campbell River has only 22 prefixes, or 220,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Campbell River: the leader, TELUS, holds only 27.3% of the prefixes against 10 competitors, a sign of a highly fragmented market where cable companies, mobility brands and VoIP providers weigh as much as the incumbent.

Allocation is mature: only 18.8% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2010–2014, and 6 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Campbell River numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

6 undated in the register.

Dialling a Campbell River number

Campbell River is served by 3 overlaid area codes (250, 236 and 778). A 778 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Campbell River shares area codes 250, 236 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, New Westminster, Nanaimo, South Kamloops, Prince George and Abbotsford. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 314 prefixes in 236 and 778; the smallest on the list, Salmon Arm, has just 21.

What a Campbell River number tells you

A number attached to Campbell River tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often TELUS. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Campbell River: code 250-286 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-286-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Campbell River, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Campbell River prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 22 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia