Phone prefixes in Gulf Islands, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

13

Telephone numbers covered

130,000

Carriers

10

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 1, 2001

Most recent assignment

May 20, 2025

Gulf Islands’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Gulf Islands accounts for only 6 of 745 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 672, Gulf Islands accounts for only 3 of 321 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 109 rate centres. Within area code 250, Gulf Islands accounts for only 2 of 781 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 778, Gulf Islands accounts for only 2 of 779 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 3 prefixes, 23.1% of the total, ahead of 9 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, TELUS leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 672, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 250, TELUS leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 778, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Gulf Islands’s 4 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

3 of Gulf Islands’s 13 prefixes (23.1%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, TELUS, Distributel and Fibernetics Corporation. 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

Gulf Islands’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2025. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 5 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 1 prefixes (8%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 5 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Gulf Islands’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 TELUS Mobility in 2001. The most recent arrivals are Shaw Telecom Inc. (2025), ISP Telecom Inc. (2021) and Fibernetics Corporation (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Gulf Islands.

Gulf Islands has only 13 prefixes, or 130,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Gulf Islands: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 23.1% of the prefixes against 9 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: 41.7% 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.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Gulf Islands number

Gulf Islands is served by 4 overlaid area codes (236, 672, 250 and 778). A 778 number is no more “out of town” than a 236 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Gulf Islands shares area codes 236, 672, 250 and 778 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Nanaimo, South Kamloops and Prince George. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 397 prefixes in 236, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Campbell River, has just 22.

What a Gulf Islands number tells you

A number attached to Gulf Islands tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in British Columbia, most often Iristel Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 10 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 Gulf Islands: code 672-271 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 672-271-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Gulf Islands, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Gulf Islands prefix

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

Had a call from a Gulf Islands number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 13 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia