Telephone numbers in Canada
Telephone numbers in Canada follow the fixed-length Bell System format, consisting of the country code +1, followed by a three-digit area code, a three-digit central office code (or exchange code) and a four-digit station code. This is represented as 1 NPA NXX XXXX,[1] in which the country code is "1".
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Continent | North America |
| Access codes | |
| Country calling code | +1 |
| International call prefix | 011 |
| Trunk prefix | 1 |
Local calls from Canadian landlines must be dialled without the leading '1', which is used as the trunk prefix for domestic long-distance calls. Toll calls from Canada to other North American Numbering Plan countries are dialled in the same format (eleven digits) as domestic calls. Overseas calls to locations outside country code +1 are dialled with the 011 international prefix, followed by the country code and the national significant number.
| Province / Territory | Codes (Overlays in Italic) |
|---|---|
| Alberta | 403, 587, 780, 825 |
| British Columbia | 236, 250, 604, 672, 778 |
| Manitoba | 204, 431 |
| New Brunswick | 506 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 709 |
| Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island | 782, 902 |
| Ontario | 226, 249, 289, 343, 365, 416, 437, 519, 548, 613, 647, 705, 807, 905 |
| Quebec | 367, 418, 438, 450, 514, 579, 581, 819, 873 |
| Saskatchewan | 306, 639 |
| Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut | 867 |
Mobile phones
As the recipient of a mobile call pays airtime, standard mobile phone numbers are not uniquely different from land-line numbers and thus follow the same format and area codes as for land-lines. Numbers may be ported between landline and mobile. The rarely used non-geographic area code 600 is one exception to this pattern (non-portable, and allows caller-pays-airtime satellite telephony); some independent landline exchanges are also non-portable.
Mobile phone providers had supported either CDMA or GSM; both are being supplanted by UMTS. Telus shut down its CDMA in mid-2015; Bell Mobility's CDMA network, the country's last major provider of that type, went dark on January 1, 2017.[2]
Toll-free and premium numbers
Non-geographic toll-free telephone numbers (+1 800, 833[3], 844, 855, 866, 877, 888) and premium-rate telephone numbers (+1-900) are allocated from the same blocks as the corresponding US numbers. Numbers with exchange code +1 NPA 976-XXXX are also expensive premium calls.
Formatting
As mentioned above, phone numbers are usually written as "NPA-NXX-XXXX" for example, 250 555 0199, a fictional number, could be written as (250) 555-0199, 250-555-0199, 250-5550199, or 250/555-0199. The modern format for phone numbers globally is +1NPAXXXXXXX with no spaces, hyphens or other characters.
References
- http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/favart/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_autr8SPbfCcS_FFE&page=9N6fM9QmOwCE.html
- "Bell lays out plan to shutter its CDMA network by January 1st, 2017"
- https://atlc.com/2017/01/17/fcc-announces-release-new-833-toll-free-prefix/ "Announces Release of New 833 Toll Free Prefix"