Phone prefixes in Sydney, NS

In numbers

In-service prefixes

44

Telephone numbers covered

440,000

Carriers

11

Area codes

2

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

September 20, 2000

Most recent assignment

May 20, 2025

Sydney’s share of its area codes

Within area code 902, Sydney accounts for only 29 of 782 prefixes (3.7%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 782, Sydney accounts for only 15 of 456 prefixes (3.3%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Mobility Aliant holds the largest share at 12 prefixes, 27.3% of the total, ahead of 10 other carriers. Code by code: in 902, Aliant Telecom (NS) leads with 10 of 29 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 782, Bell Mobility Aliant leads with 6 of 15 prefixes ahead of 6 others. 5 carriers hold prefixes in every one of Sydney’s 2 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

20 of Sydney’s 44 prefixes (45.5%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility Aliant, TELUS Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Aliant Telecom (NS), Bragg Communications Inc, Iristel 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

Sydney’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2025. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 9 prefixes went to 3 carriers. 11 prefixes (25%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 11 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Sydney’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Aliant Telecom (NS), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Bell Mobility Aliant: these carriers 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 Distributel (2022), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) (2017) and Iristel Inc. (2014), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Sydney.

Sydney’s 44 prefixes provide 440,000 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 Sydney: the leader, Bell Mobility Aliant, holds only 27.3% of the prefixes against 10 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: 33.3% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2020–2024. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

11 undated in the register.

Dialling a Sydney number

Sydney is served by 2 overlaid area codes (902 and 782). A 782 number is no more “out of town” than a 902 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Sydney shares area codes 902 and 782 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, Charlottetown, Truro, Amherst, New Glasgow, Kentville, Summerside and Windsor. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Port Hawkesbury, has just 12.

What a Sydney number tells you

A number attached to Sydney tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Nova Scotia, most often Bell Mobility Aliant. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 11 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 Nova Scotia area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Sydney: code 902-217 is recorded for Bell Mobility Aliant, so every 902-217-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Sydney, Nova Scotia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Sydney prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 44 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Nova Scotia