Phone prefixes in Quebec, QC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

282

Telephone numbers covered

2,820,000

Carriers

16

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

November 22, 1999

Most recent assignment

December 19, 2025

Quebec’s share of its area codes

Within area code 418, Quebec takes 142 of 777 prefixes (18.3%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 258 rate centres, the largest of them Quebec. Within area code 581, Quebec takes 103 of 778 prefixes (13.2%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 232 rate centres, the largest of them Quebec. Within area code 367, Quebec takes 37 of 232 prefixes (15.9%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 110 rate centres, the largest of them Quebec.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 65 prefixes, 23.0% of the total, ahead of 15 other carriers. Code by code: in 418, Bell Canada leads with 62 of 142 prefixes ahead of 13 others; in 581, Bell Mobility leads with 19 of 103 prefixes ahead of 12 others; in 367, Iristel Inc. leads with 10 of 37 prefixes ahead of 8 others. 7 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Quebec’s 3 area codes, while 3 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

124 of Quebec’s 282 prefixes (44.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, TELUS Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Bell Canada, Videotron Ltd, Iristel Inc 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

Quebec’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2025. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 45 prefixes went to 8 carriers. 80 prefixes (28%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 49 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Quebec’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, Bell Mobility and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless): 7 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bell Mobility in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), IXICA Communications Inc. (2022) and Comwave Networks (2013), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Quebec.

Its 282 prefixes stand for 2,820,000 possible numbers: Quebec is a large rate centre, the kind that hosts several switching offices and a sizeable business clientele.

No single carrier dominates Quebec: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 23.0% of the prefixes against 15 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: 24.3% 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.

The register also shows 3 prefixes assigned but not yet in service in Quebec (Bell Mobility and Videotron Ltd): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

80 undated in the register.

Dialling a Quebec number

Quebec is served by 3 overlaid area codes (418, 581 and 367). A 367 number is no more “out of town” than a 418 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Quebec shares area codes 418, 581 and 367 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Chicoutimi, Alma, Rimouski, Riviere-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Levis and Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. The largest of them, Chicoutimi, holds 64 prefixes in 367, 418 and 581; the smallest on the list, Chandler, has just 13.

What a Quebec number tells you

A number attached to Quebec 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 16 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 Quebec: code 418-260 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 418-260-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Quebec, Quebec” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Quebec prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 282 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Quebec