Phone prefixes in North Bay, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

44

Telephone numbers covered

440,000

Carriers

15

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 13, 2000

Most recent assignment

December 16, 2025

North Bay’s share of its area codes

Within area code 705, North Bay accounts for only 32 of 770 prefixes (4.2%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 249, North Bay accounts for only 9 of 586 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres. Within area code 683, North Bay accounts for only 3 of 80 prefixes (3.8%): the code is dominated by Lindsay and spread over 57 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 12 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 14 other carriers. Code by code: in 705, Bell Canada leads with 11 of 32 prefixes ahead of 11 others; in 249, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 9 prefixes ahead of 6 others; in 683, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of North Bay’s 3 area codes, while 9 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

12 of North Bay’s 44 prefixes (27.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), TELUS Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Bell Canada, Iristel Inc, Fibernetics Corporation and TELUS Integrated Communications. 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

North Bay’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2025. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 9 prefixes went to 6 carriers. 12 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 6 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

North Bay’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Iristel Inc: 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 Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), Videotron Ltd. (2023) and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in North Bay.

North Bay’s 44 prefixes provide 440,000 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 North Bay: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 27.3% of the prefixes against 14 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 2005–2009, and 12 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New North Bay numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

12 undated in the register.

Dialling a North Bay number

North Bay is served by 3 overlaid area codes (705, 249 and 683). A 683 number is no more “out of town” than a 705 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

North Bay shares area codes 705, 249 and 683 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Huntsville, Lindsay, Collingwood and Orillia. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 95 prefixes in 249, 683 and 705; the smallest on the list, Kirkland Lake, has just 12.

What a North Bay number tells you

A number attached to North Bay tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Bell Canada. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 15 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 North Bay: code 705-472 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 705-472-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “North Bay, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every North Bay prefix

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

What people check and report about North Bay numbers

Searches typed into this site's lookup form since July 28, 2026, plus the verdicts and moderated reports visitors left. A search usually follows a missed call.

Had a call from a North Bay 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 44 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario