Phone prefixes in Chilliwack, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

41

Telephone numbers covered

410,000

Carriers

14

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 10, 2000

Most recent assignment

December 22, 2023

Chilliwack’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Chilliwack accounts for only 22 of 781 prefixes (2.8%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 236, Chilliwack accounts for only 8 of 730 prefixes (1.1%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 778, Chilliwack accounts for only 7 of 779 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 672, Chilliwack accounts for only 4 of 320 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 9 prefixes, 22.0% of the total, ahead of 13 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 8 of 22 prefixes ahead of 7 others; in 236, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 8 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 778, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 672, TELUS Mobility leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Chilliwack’s 4 area codes, while 7 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

15 of Chilliwack’s 41 prefixes (36.6%) 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, Iristel Inc, Shaw Telecom Inc 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

Chilliwack’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 11 prefixes went to 9 carriers. 10 prefixes (24%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 7 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Chilliwack’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS, TELUS Mobility and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless): 4 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to TELUS in 2000. The most recent arrivals are Fido Solutions Inc. (2023), Fibernetics Corporation (2022) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2022), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Chilliwack.

Chilliwack’s 41 prefixes provide 410,000 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 Chilliwack: the leader, TELUS, holds only 22.0% of the prefixes against 13 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: 22.6% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2015–2019. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

10 undated in the register.

Dialling a Chilliwack number

Chilliwack is served by 4 overlaid area codes (604, 236, 778 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Chilliwack shares area codes 604, 236, 778 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond, North Vancouver, Aldergrove and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 740 prefixes in 236, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Port Moody, has just 22.

What a Chilliwack number tells you

A number attached to Chilliwack 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 14 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 Chilliwack: code 604-407 is recorded for TELUS, so every 604-407-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Chilliwack, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Chilliwack prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 41 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia