Phone prefixes in Saint John, NB

In numbers

In-service prefixes

78

Telephone numbers covered

780,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

October 27, 1999

Most recent assignment

December 12, 2025

Saint John’s share of its area codes

Within area code 506, Saint John takes 77 of 677 prefixes (11.4%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 88 rate centres, the largest of them Moncton. Within area code 428, Saint John accounts for only 1 of 21 prefixes (4.8%): the code is dominated by Bathurst and spread over 15 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Aliant Telecom(NB) holds the largest share at 35 prefixes, 44.9% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 506, Aliant Telecom(NB) leads with 35 of 77 prefixes ahead of 11 others; Iristel Inc. is the only holder in 428. 1 carrier holds prefixes in every one of Saint John’s 2 area codes, while 11 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

27 of Saint John’s 78 prefixes (34.6%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), TELUS Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Aliant Telecom(NB), Iristel Inc, Bragg Communications Inc and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable). 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

Saint John’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2025. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 14 prefixes went to 8 carriers. 31 prefixes (40%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 10 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Saint John’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom(NB), Bell Mobility Aliant and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless): these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Aliant Telecom(NB) in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Distributel (2022), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (2019) and Bragg Communications Inc. (2017), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Saint John.

Saint John’s 78 prefixes provide 780,000 numbers, which corresponds to a mid-sized city or a well-established suburb that every major carrier wants a slice of.

Aliant Telecom(NB) leads with 44.9% of the prefixes, but 11 competitors have set up in Saint John: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Demand remains steady: 21.3% 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 1 prefix assigned but not yet in service in Saint John (Bell Mobility Aliant): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

31 undated in the register.

Dialling a Saint John number

Saint John is served by 2 overlaid area codes (506 and 428). A 428 number is no more “out of town” than a 506 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Saint John shares area codes 506 and 428 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Moncton, Fredericton, Miramichi, Bathurst, Edmundston, Campbellton, Woodstock and Tracadie. The largest of them, Moncton, holds 81 prefixes in 428 and 506; the smallest on the list, Sackville, has just 10.

What a Saint John number tells you

A number attached to Saint John tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in New Brunswick, most often Aliant Telecom(NB). It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 12 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 New Brunswick area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Saint John: code 506-202 is recorded for Aliant Telecom(NB), so every 506-202-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Saint John, New Brunswick” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Saint John prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 78 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in New Brunswick