Phone prefixes in Windsor

In numbers

In-service prefixes

166

Telephone numbers covered

1,660,000

Carriers

25

Area codes

9

Provinces and territories

3

First assignment

October 27, 1999

Most recent assignment

February 18, 2025

Provinces and territories

This name is used for separate rate centres in 3 provinces. The prefixes below share a name in the CNAC register but belong to different communities.

• Ontario — 133 prefixes
• Nova Scotia — 24 prefixes
• Quebec — 9 prefixes

Windsor’s share of its area codes

Within area code 519, Windsor accounts for only 65 of 779 prefixes (8.3%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 210 rate centres. Within area code 226, Windsor accounts for only 44 of 778 prefixes (5.7%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 166 rate centres. Within area code 548, Windsor accounts for only 20 of 499 prefixes (4.0%): the code is dominated by London and spread over 170 rate centres. Within area code 902, Windsor accounts for only 16 of 782 prefixes (2.0%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 175 rate centres. Within area code 782, Windsor accounts for only 8 of 456 prefixes (1.8%): the code is dominated by Halifax and spread over 142 rate centres. Within area code 819, Windsor accounts for only 5 of 770 prefixes (0.6%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 211 rate centres. Within area code 382, Windsor accounts for only 4 of 60 prefixes (6.7%): the code is dominated by Kitchener-Waterloo and spread over 38 rate centres. Within area code 873, Windsor accounts for only 3 of 667 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Sherbrooke and spread over 162 rate centres. Within area code 468, Windsor accounts for only 1 of 67 prefixes (1.5%): the code is dominated by Ottawa-Hull and spread over 57 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Iristel Inc. holds the largest share at 32 prefixes, 19.3% of the total, ahead of 24 other carriers. Code by code: in 519, Bell Canada leads with 29 of 65 prefixes ahead of 10 others; in 226, Iristel Inc. leads with 10 of 44 prefixes ahead of 14 others; in 548, Iristel Inc. leads with 13 of 20 prefixes ahead of 6 others; in 902, Iristel Inc. leads with 5 of 16 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 782, Iristel Inc. leads with 3 of 8 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 819, Bell Canada leads with 1 of 5 prefixes ahead of 4 others; in 382, Bell Mobility leads with 1 of 4 prefixes ahead of 3 others; in 873, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; IXICA Communications Inc. is the only holder in 468. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Windsor’s 9 area codes, while 11 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

54 of Windsor’s 166 prefixes (32.5%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: TELUS Mobility, Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless), Fido Solutions Inc and Bell Mobility Aliant. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by Iristel Inc, Bell Canada, Fibernetics Corporation and TELUS Integrated Communications. 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

Windsor’s dated assignments run from 1999 to 2025. The busiest period was 2020–2024, when 38 prefixes went to 10 carriers. 41 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 39 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Windsor’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Wireless) and Aliant Telecom (NS): 6 carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Bell Canada in 1999. The most recent arrivals are Cogeco Connexion Inc. (2025), Bell Mobility Aliant (2020) and IXICA Communications Inc. (2020), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Windsor.

Its 166 prefixes stand for 1,660,000 possible numbers: Windsor is a large rate centre, the kind that hosts several switching offices and a sizeable business clientele.

No single carrier dominates Windsor: the leader, Iristel Inc., holds only 19.3% of the prefixes against 24 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: 31.2% 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.

The register also shows 5 prefixes assigned but not yet in service in Windsor (Iristel Inc and TELUS Mobility): numbers that will start showing up on call displays in the coming months.

41 undated in the register.

Dialling a Windsor number

Windsor is served by 9 overlaid area codes (519, 226, 548, 902, 782, 819, 382, 873 and 468). A 468 number is no more “out of town” than a 519 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Windsor shares area codes 519, 226, 548, 902, 782, 819, 382, 873 and 468 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Halifax, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa-Hull, Sherbrooke, Guelph, Trois-Rivieres and Brantford. The largest of them, Halifax, holds 220 prefixes in 782 and 902; the smallest on the list, Galt, has just 28.

What a Windsor number tells you

A number attached to Windsor tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Ontario, most often Iristel Inc.. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 25 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 Windsor: code 519-800 is recorded for Iristel Inc., so every 519-800-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Windsor, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Windsor prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 166 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario