Phone prefixes in Pender Island, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

7

Telephone numbers covered

70,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

March 30, 2016

Most recent assignment

January 19, 2026

Pender Island’s share of its area codes

Within area code 236, Pender Island accounts for only 4 of 745 prefixes (0.5%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 250, Pender Island accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres. Within area code 257, Pender Island accounts for only 1 of 18 prefixes (5.6%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 15 rate centres. Within area code 672, Pender Island accounts for only 1 of 321 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 109 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 2 prefixes, 28.6% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 236, Distributel leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; TELUS is the only holder in 250; TELUS is the only holder in 257; ISP Telecom Inc. is the only holder in 672. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Pender Island’s 4 area codes, while 5 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Pender Island’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 7 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS, Distributel, Fibernetics Corporation and ISP Telecom Inc. A call showing a Pender Island number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Pender Island’s dated assignments run from 2016 to 2026. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 2 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 1 prefixes (14%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 4 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Pender Island’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 2016. The most recent arrivals are TELUS (2026), Shaw Telecom Inc. (2025) and ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Pender Island.

Pender Island has just 7 prefixes (70,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

No single carrier dominates Pender Island: the leader, TELUS, holds only 28.6% of the prefixes against 5 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: 66.7% of the dated prefixes were assigned in the last ten years, peaking in 2015–2019. Pender Island is among the rate centres where demand for numbers is still rising quickly.

1 undated in the register.

Dialling a Pender Island number

Pender Island is served by 4 overlaid area codes (236, 250, 257 and 672). A 672 number is no more “out of town” than a 236 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Pender Island shares area codes 236, 250, 257 and 672 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Nanaimo, Prince George, South Kamloops and Vernon. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 228 prefixes in 236, 257 and 672; the smallest on the list, New Westminster, has just 15.

What a Pender Island number tells you

A number attached to Pender Island 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 6 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 Pender Island: code 250-629 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-629-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Pender Island, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Pender Island prefix

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

Had a call from a Pender Island 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 7 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia