Phone prefixes in Victoria

In numbers

In-service prefixes

180

Telephone numbers covered

1,800,000

Carriers

23

Area codes

8

Provinces and territories

2

First assignment

September 2, 1999

Most recent assignment

October 20, 2025

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 2 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• British Columbia — 169 prefixes
• Ontario — 11 prefixes

Victoria’s share of its area codes

Within area code 250, Victoria takes 94 of 781 prefixes (12.0%), a substantial slice of a code shared by 268 rate centres, the largest of them Victoria. Within area code 778, Victoria accounts for only 42 of 779 prefixes (5.4%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 159 rate centres. Within area code 672, Victoria accounts for only 17 of 320 prefixes (5.3%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 108 rate centres. Within area code 236, Victoria accounts for only 16 of 730 prefixes (2.2%): the code is dominated by Vancouver and spread over 269 rate centres. Within area code 365, Victoria accounts for only 6 of 702 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Markham and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 289, Victoria accounts for only 2 of 772 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 87 rate centres. Within area code 905, Victoria accounts for only 2 of 773 prefixes (0.3%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres. Within area code 742, Victoria accounts for only 1 of 146 prefixes (0.7%): the code is dominated by Brampton and spread over 68 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

TELUS holds the largest share at 54 prefixes, 30.0% of the total, ahead of 22 other carriers. Code by code: in 250, TELUS leads with 49 of 94 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 778, Shaw Telecom Inc. leads with 8 of 42 prefixes ahead of 13 others; in 672, TELUS Mobility leads with 4 of 17 prefixes ahead of 6 others; in 236, TELUS leads with 4 of 16 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 365, Distributel leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 289, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 905, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others; FGLTEL Inc. is the only holder in 742. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Victoria’s 8 area codes, while 8 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

58 of Victoria’s 180 prefixes (32.2%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Bell Mobility and Fido Solutions Inc. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by TELUS, Iristel Inc, Shaw Telecom Inc and Videotron Ltd. 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

Victoria’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2025. The busiest period was 2010–2014, when 29 prefixes went to 10 carriers. 59 prefixes (33%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 26 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Victoria’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to TELUS, TELUS Mobility and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless): 6 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Fido Solutions Inc. in 1999. The most recent arrivals are FGLTEL Inc. (2022), Beanfield Technologies Inc. (2021) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Victoria.

Its 180 prefixes stand for 1,800,000 possible numbers: Victoria is a large rate centre, the kind that hosts several switching offices and a sizeable business clientele.

No single carrier dominates Victoria: the leader, TELUS, holds only 30.0% of the prefixes against 22 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: 21.5% of the dated prefixes go back to the last ten years, the most active period being 2010–2014. The rate centre is growing at a regular rather than explosive pace.

59 undated in the register.

Dialling a Victoria number

Victoria is served by 8 overlaid area codes (250, 778, 672, 236, 365, 289, 905 and 742). A 742 number is no more “out of town” than a 250 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Victoria shares area codes 250, 778, 672, 236, 365, 289, 905 and 742 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Vancouver, Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa, St. Catharines-Thorold, Oakville, Markham and Ajax-Pickering. The largest of them, Vancouver, holds 397 prefixes in 236, 672 and 778; the smallest on the list, Nanaimo, has just 47.

What a Victoria number tells you

A number attached to Victoria 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 23 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 Victoria: code 250-213 is recorded for TELUS, so every 250-213-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Victoria, British Columbia” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Victoria prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 180 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in British Columbia