British Columbia to Require 10-Digit Local Dialing

Press Release - June 9, 2007

In September 2008, British Columbia is set to become the first Canadian province to require 10-digit telephone dialing for all local calls, the CRTC announced on Thursday.

The 250 area code, which covers all of BC but the Lower Mainland, is running out of numbers, and the nation’s telecom regulator has decided to extend the “788” prefix, already used in and around Vancouver, into other parts of the province.

10-digit dialing is already mandatory in Greater Vancouver, ever since the 604 area code ran out of numbers and 788 was introduced. Similar situations exist in other major metropolitan areas, including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, and Windsor-London, but BC will be the first Canadian jurisdiction to require 10-digit dialing on a province-wide basis.

Beginning in June of next year, Telus Corp. plans to remind callers of the change with a short automated message whenever they enter a 7-digit number. After two and a half months of such warnings, however, customers will be expected to have their dialing fingers in peak physical condition for 10-digit calls.