Phone prefixes in Queen Charlotte, BC

Queen Charlotte, BC is a rate centre in the Canadian numbering plan. CNAC records 1 in-service prefixes there, held by 1 carriers and spread across 1 area code (250). With 1 prefixes, Queen Charlotte is a small rate centre within British Columbia: 283rd of 309, holding 0.0% of the province’s prefixes, and 2509th of 2,920 rate centres across Canada.

Background reading: Canadian area codes, overlays, and what a 416 number actually tells you · Caller ID spoofing, STIR/SHAKEN, and how to actually block calls in Canada

Where Queen Charlotte is

Province or territory
British Columbia
Census division
Skeena-Queen Charlotte
Local time
— Pacific Time (PT), UTC−8; UTC−7 in daylight saving time
Nearest rate centres
Sandspit (17 km), Port Clements (41 km), Masset (83 km), Kitkatla (122 km), Prince Rupert (159 km)

Divisions and places: Statistics Canada and NRCan. Straight-line distances.

In numbers

In-service prefixes
1
Telephone numbers covered
10,000
Carriers
1
Area codes
1
Provinces and territories
1

Queen Charlotte’s share of its area code

Within area code 250, Queen Charlotte accounts for only 1 of 781 prefixes (0.1%): the code is dominated by Victoria and spread over 268 rate centres.

Area codesPrefixes herePrefixes in codeShareRangeLargest rate centre
25017810.1 %250-559 – 250-559Victoria

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds every prefix here. Code by code: TELUS is the only holder in 250.

Carrier250
TELUS1

Wireless and wireline

None of Queen Charlotte’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 1 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them TELUS. A call showing a Queen Charlotte number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

The register dates none of Queen Charlotte’s assignments: all 1 prefixes predate CNAC’s record-keeping, the signature of an old, settled network where nothing has been added in decades.

TELUS is the only carrier ever recorded for Queen Charlotte: no competitor has obtained a prefix here. A single-carrier rate centre is typical of small communities where only the incumbent ever built a network.

Queen Charlotte has just 1 prefix (10,000 numbers): a very small rate centre, typical of a village or rural area served by a single switching office.

The local market is an allocation monopoly: TELUS holds every prefix, and no competitor has ever requested a code for Queen Charlotte.

Dialling a Queen Charlotte number

A single area code, 250, covers Queen Charlotte, and it is not overlaid with any other code on this territory: one of the few parts of Canada where seven-digit local dialling may still work. From abroad, dial +1 250 and the seven-digit number.

The numbering neighbourhood

Queen Charlotte shares area code 250 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Victoria, Kelowna, Nanaimo, South Kamloops, Prince George, Vernon, Penticton and Duncan. The largest of them, Victoria, holds 94 prefixes in 250; the smallest on the list, Quesnel, has just 7.

Rate centreProvinceShared codesPrefixesCarriers
VictoriaBC2509411
KelownaBC250326
NanaimoBC250257
South KamloopsBC250226
Prince GeorgeBC250196
VernonBC250195
PentictonBC250155
DuncanBC250146
CourtenayBC250135
Campbell RiverBC250126
Fort St. JohnBC250125
ParksvilleBC250116
Port AlberniBC250105
CranbrookBC25084
Dawson CreekBC25084
SaanichBC25082
Salmon ArmBC25084
TerraceBC25085
ChemainusBC25076
QuesnelBC25074

What a Queen Charlotte number tells you

A number attached to Queen Charlotte 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 1 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 Queen Charlotte: code 250-559 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-559-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Queen Charlotte, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality.

Every Queen Charlotte prefix

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

PrefixCarrierAssigned
250-559TELUSundated

Had a call from a Queen Charlotte 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.

  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.

  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.

Frequently asked

What is the area code for Queen Charlotte?

Queen Charlotte falls under area code 250, in British Columbia. All 1 of the rate centre’s in-service prefixes sit in it.

Is a call from Queen Charlotte a cellphone or a landline?

More likely a landline or a VoIP service: mobility brands hold only 0.0% of Queen Charlotte’s prefixes.

Which carrier is behind a Queen Charlotte number?

In the register, TELUS holds the most prefixes in Queen Charlotte (1 of 1), ahead of 0 other carriers. Code 250-559, for instance, belongs to TELUS.

Is this Queen Charlotte number a scam?

The register cannot say: it records who a prefix was issued to, not who is calling. Search the full number above to see the reports filed against it.

What time zone is Queen Charlotte in?

Queen Charlotte is on Pacific Time (PT, UTC−8), with daylight saving time (UTC−7) from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

Allocated prefixes

All 1 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Queen Charlotte, BC

250-559

Elsewhere in British Columbia

Rate centreProvincePrefixesCarriers
VancouverBC74319
New WestminsterBC12616
AbbotsfordBC8715
RichmondBC7315
North VancouverBC5812
AldergroveBC5514
NewtonBC4614
ChilliwackBC4114
WhalleyBC3612
West VancouverBC319
WhistlerBC2812
Port CoquitlamBC2610

Allocation source: Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNAC), the registry that records which carrier a central-office code was originally issued to. An allocation says who was issued the prefix, not who serves the number today: numbers can be ported between carriers, and caller ID can be spoofed outright.