Phone prefixes in Richmond

In numbers

In-service prefixes

93

Telephone numbers covered

930,000

Carriers

22

Area codes

11

Provinces and territories

3

First assignment

May 18, 2000

Most recent assignment

November 18, 2025

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 3 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• British Columbia — 73 prefixes
• Quebec — 11 prefixes
• Ontario — 9 prefixes

Richmond’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Richmond accounts for only 41 of 781 prefixes (5.2%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 778, Richmond accounts for only 17 of 779 prefixes (2.2%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 236, Richmond accounts for only 10 of 730 prefixes (1.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 343, Richmond accounts for only 6 of 641 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 116 rate centres. Within area code 819, Richmond accounts for only 6 of 770 prefixes (0.8%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 672, Richmond accounts for only 3 of 320 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres. Within area code 873, Richmond accounts for only 3 of 667 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 257, Richmond takes 2 of 15 prefixes (13.3%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 12 rate centres, the largest of them Vancouver. Within area code 468, Richmond accounts for only 2 of 67 prefixes (3.0%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 57 rate centres. Within area code 613, Richmond accounts for only 2 of 772 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 132 rate centres. Within area code 753, Richmond accounts for only 1 of 103 prefixes (1.0%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 62 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 27 prefixes, 29.0% of the total, ahead of 21 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 24 of 41 prefixes ahead of 7 others; in 778, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 3 of 17 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 236, Iristel Inc. leads with 6 of 10 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 343, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 819, Videotron Ltd. leads with 2 of 6 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 672, TELUS leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 873, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 3 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 257, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 468, IXICA Communications Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 613, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; IXICA Communications Inc. is the only holder in 753. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Richmond’s 11 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

4 of Richmond’s 93 prefixes (4.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Iristel Inc, Shaw Telecom Inc and Fibernetics Corporation. 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

Richmond’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2025. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 19 prefixes went to 10 carriers. 25 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 17 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Richmond’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS, Bell Canada and Zayo Canada Inc: 4 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bell West Inc. in 2000. The most recent arrivals are Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), IXICA Communications Inc. (2018) and TELUS Integrated Communications (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Richmond.

Richmond’s 93 prefixes provide 930,000 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 Richmond: the leader, TELUS, holds only 29.0% of the prefixes against 21 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: 25.0% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2005–2009. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

25 undated in the register.

Dialling a Richmond number

Richmond is served by 11 overlaid area codes (604, 778, 236, 343, 819, 672, 873, 257, 468, 613 and 753). A 753 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Richmond shares area codes 604, 778, 236, 343, 819, 672, 873, 257, 468, 613 and 753 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, New Westminster, Sherbrooke, Abbotsford, Kingston, Victoria and Trois-Rivieres. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 743 prefixes in 236, 257, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, West Vancouver, has just 31.

What a Richmond number tells you

A number attached to Richmond 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 22 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 Richmond: code 604-204 is recorded for TELUS, so every 604-204-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Richmond, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Richmond prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 93 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia