Phone prefixes in Woodbridge, ON

In numbers

In-service prefixes

30

Telephone numbers covered

300,000

Carriers

16

Area codes

4

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

January 31, 2000

Most recent assignment

January 31, 2024

Woodbridge’s share of its area codes

Within area code 289, Woodbridge accounts for only 13 of 772 prefixes (1.7%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 87 rate centres. Within area code 905, Woodbridge accounts for only 9 of 773 prefixes (1.2%): the code is dominated by Hamilton and spread over 94 rate centres. Within area code 365, Woodbridge accounts for only 6 of 702 prefixes (0.9%): the code is dominated by Markham and spread over 88 rate centres. Within area code 742, Woodbridge accounts for only 2 of 146 prefixes (1.4%): the code is dominated by Brampton and spread over 68 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

Bell Canada holds the largest share at 6 prefixes, 20.0% of the total, ahead of 15 other carriers. Code by code: in 289, TELUS Integrated Communications leads with 3 of 13 prefixes ahead of 8 others; in 905, Bell Canada leads with 5 of 9 prefixes ahead of 1 others; in 365, Iristel Inc. leads with 1 of 6 prefixes ahead of 5 others; in 742, Fibernetics Corporation leads with 1 of 2 prefixes ahead of 1 others. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Woodbridge’s 4 area codes, while 13 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

None of Woodbridge’s holders carries a mobility brand in its registered name: all 30 prefixes belong to wireline or wholesale carriers, among them Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable), Fibernetics Corporation and Iristel Inc. A call showing a Woodbridge number therefore nominally comes from a landline, cable or VoIP platform rather than a locally assigned cellphone.

How the allocation was built up

Woodbridge’s dated assignments run from 2000 to 2024. The busiest period was 2005–2009, when 9 prefixes went to 7 carriers. 6 prefixes (20%) 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.

Woodbridge’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable): these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Cable) in 2000. The most recent arrivals are FGLTEL Inc. (2022), Beanfield Technologies Inc. (2021) and TekSavvy Solutions Inc (2021), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Woodbridge.

Woodbridge’s 30 prefixes provide 300,000 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 Woodbridge: the leader, Bell Canada, holds only 20.0% of the prefixes against 15 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: 20.8% 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.

6 undated in the register.

Dialling a Woodbridge number

Woodbridge is served by 4 overlaid area codes (289, 905, 365 and 742). A 742 number is no more “out of town” than a 289 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Woodbridge shares area codes 289, 905, 365 and 742 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa, St. Catharines-Thorold, Oakville, Markham, Ajax-Pickering and Cooksville. The largest of them, Hamilton, holds 221 prefixes in 289, 365, 742 and 905; the smallest on the list, Maple, has just 28.

What a Woodbridge number tells you

A number attached to Woodbridge 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 16 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 Woodbridge: code 289-657 is recorded for Bell Canada, so every 289-657-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Woodbridge, Ontario” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Woodbridge prefix

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

Allocated prefixes

All 30 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Ontario