Phone prefixes in Pont-Viau, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

35

Telephone numbers covered

350,000

Carriers

13

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

January 31, 2000

Most recent assignment

December 3, 2024

Pont-Viau’s share of its area codes

Within area code 450, Pont-Viau accounts for only 24 of 775 prefixes (3.1%): the code is dominated by Granby and spread over 129 rate centres. Within area code 579, Pont-Viau accounts for only 11 of 644 prefixes (1.7%): the code is dominated by Granby and spread over 126 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 10 prefixes, 28.6% of the total, ahead of 12 other carriers. Code by code: in 450, Bell Canada leads with 9 of 24 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 579, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 11 prefixes ahead of 7 others. 4 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Pont-Viau’s 2 area codes, while 9 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

2 of Pont-Viau’s 35 prefixes (5.7%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Bell Canada, Iristel Inc, Videotron Ltd and TELUS Quebec. 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

Pont-Viau’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2024. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 8 prefixes went to 6 carriers. 10 prefixes (29%) 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.

Pont-Viau’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada and Videotron Ltd: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) in 2000. The most recent arrivals are IXICA Communications Inc. (2021), Bell Canada (2016) and InnSysVoice Corp (2015), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Pont-Viau.

Pont-Viau’s 35 prefixes provide 350,000 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 Pont-Viau: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 28.6% of the prefixes against 12 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 12.0% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2010–2014, and 10 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Pont-Viau numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

The register also shows 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Pont-Viau (Cogeco Connexion Inc): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

10 undated in the register.

Dialling a Pont-Viau number

Pont-Viau is served by 2 overlaid area codes (450 and 579). A 579 number is no more “out of town” than a 450 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Pont-Viau shares area codes 450 and 579 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jerome, St-Hyacinthe, Longueuil, Ste-Therese, Sorel and St-Lambert. The largest of them, Granby, holds 51 prefixes in 450 and 579; the smallest on the list, Terrebonne, has just 17.

What a Pont-Viau number tells you

A number attached to Pont-Viau tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Quebec, 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 13 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 Quebec area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Pont-Viau: code 450-629 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 450-629-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Pont-Viau, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Pont-Viau prefix

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

Had a call from a Pont-Viau 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 35 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec