Phone prefixes in Sault Ste. Marie, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

45

Telephone numbers covered

450,000

Carriers

14

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

August 30, 2000

Most recent assignment

August 9, 2023

Sault Ste. Marie’s share of its area codes

Within area code 705, Sault Ste. Marie accounts for only 33 of 770 prefixes (4.3%): the code is dominated by Barrie and spread over 203 rate centres. Within area code 249, Sault Ste. Marie accounts for only 12 of 586 prefixes (2.0%): the code is dominated by Sudbury and spread over 176 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 15 prefixes, 33.3% of the total, ahead of 13 other carriers. Code by code: in 705, Bell Canada leads with 14 of 33 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 249, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 12 prefixes ahead of 8 others. 6 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Sault Ste. Marie’s 2 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

15 of Sault Ste. Marie’s 45 prefixes (33.3%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Bell Mobility, TELUS Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Bell Canada, 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

Sault Ste. Marie’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2023. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 9 prefixes went to 8 carriers. 13 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.

Sault Ste. Marie’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2000. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2019), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2017) and Fibernetics Corporation (2015), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Sault Ste. Marie.

Sault Ste. Marie’s 45 prefixes provide 450,000 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 Sault Ste. Marie: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 33.3% of the prefixes against 13 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 9.4% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2015–2019, and 13 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Sault Ste. Marie numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

13 undated in the register.

Dialling a Sault Ste. Marie number

Sault Ste. Marie is served by 2 overlaid area codes (705 and 249). A 249 number is no more “out of town” than a 705 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Sault Ste. Marie shares area codes 705 and 249 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Barrie, Sudbury, Peterborough, North Bay, Huntsville, Collingwood, Lindsay and Orillia. The largest of them, Barrie, holds 92 prefixes in 249 and 705; the smallest on the list, New Liskeard, has just 11.

What a Sault Ste. Marie number tells you

A number attached to Sault Ste. Marie tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, 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 14 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and an Ontario area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Sault Ste. Marie: code 705-253 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 705-253-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Sault Ste. Marie prefix

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

Had a call from a Sault Ste. Marie 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 45 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario