Phone prefixes in Squamish, BC

In numbers

In-service prefixes

24

Telephone numbers covered

240,000

Carriers

12

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

May 14, 2001

Most recent assignment

May 1, 2025

Squamish’s share of its area codes

Within area code 604, Squamish accounts for only 11 of 781 prefixes (1.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 44 rate centres. Within area code 778, Squamish accounts for only 7 of 779 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 672, Squamish accounts for only 4 of 320 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres. Within area code 236, Squamish accounts for only 2 of 730 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 7 prefixes, 29.2% of the total, ahead of 11 other carriers. Code by code: in 604, TELUS leads with 6 of 11 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 778, Distributel leads with 2 of 7 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 672, Iristel Inc. leads with 2 of 4 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 236, ISP Telecom Inc. leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Squamish’s 4 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

6 of Squamish’s 24 prefixes (25.0%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Iristel Inc, Distributel and Shaw Telecom Inc. 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

Squamish’s dated assignments run from 2001 to 2025. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 5 prefixes went to 5 carriers. 4 prefixes (17%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 5 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Squamish’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS: this carrier made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) in 2001. The most recent arrivals are ISP Telecom Inc. (2021), Fibernetics Corporation (2020) and IXICA Communications Inc. (2018), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Squamish.

Squamish has only 24 prefixes, or 240,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

No single carrier dominates Squamish: the leader, TELUS, holds only 29.2% of the prefixes against 11 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.

4 undated in the register.

Dialling a Squamish number

Squamish is served by 4 overlaid area codes (604, 778, 672 and 236). A 236 number is no more “out of town” than a 604 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Squamish shares area codes 604, 778, 672 and 236 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond, North Vancouver, Aldergrove and Newton. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 740 prefixes in 236, 604, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Port Moody, has just 22.

What a Squamish number tells you

A number attached to Squamish 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 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 British Columbia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Squamish: code 604-815 is recorded for TELUS, so every 604-815-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Squamish, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Squamish prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 24 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia