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Area code 604 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The numbering plan area comprises the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound / Sea to Sky Corridor, Fraser Valley and the lower Fraser Canyon regions. The major city is Vancouver. The area code is one of the nine original North American area codes assigned to Canada in 1947.
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Area code 604 is one of the original 86 area codes assigned in 1947 in the contiguous United States and the nine numbering plan areas (NPAs) of Canada. It designated the province of British Columbia. Until 1988, 604 also included Point Roberts, Washington, a pene-enclave of the United States; Point Roberts was transferred in 1988 to area code 206 and is now served by area code 360.
Despite British Columbia's growth in the second half of the 20th century, 604 remained the province's sole area code for nearly 50 years. By the mid-1990s, however, the need for a new area code in the province could no longer be staved off, largely because of Canada's number allocation system. Every competitive local exchange carrier in the country is allocated blocks of 10,000 numbers, corresponding to a single three-digit prefix, for every rate centre in which it offers service, even for the smallest hamlets.
While smaller rate centres usually do not need that many numbers, once a number is assigned to a carrier and rate centre, it cannot be moved elsewhere, even to a larger rate centre. Additionally, some larger cities are split between multiple rate centres that have never been amalgamated. That resulted in thousands of wasted numbers, and the growing popularity of cell phones, pagers and fax machines has only exacerbated that problem. The number shortage was particularly severe in the Lower Mainland, which was home to most of the province's landlines and most of its other telecommunications devices requiring phone numbers.
In 1997, 604 was cut back to the Lower Mainland, with the new area code 250 created for the remainder of the province. [1]
The 1997 split was intended as a long-term solution for the Lower Mainland. However, within three years, 604 was close to exhaustion, once again because of the aforementioned number allocation problem and the continued proliferation of cell phones and pagers. Numbers tended to be used up fairly quickly in Vancouver and its immediate neighbours because of their rapid growth, but the number allocation problem was still severe in the Lower Mainland as a whole.
On November 3, 2001, area code 778 was implemented as a concentrated overlay for the two largest regional districts in the Lower Mainland, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Regional District. The experiment was announced in NANP planning letter PL-246. The remainder of the Lower Mainland continued to use only 604, but the addition of area code 778 required the implementation of ten-digit dialling throughout the region.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced on June 7, 2007 that 778 would become an overlay for the entire province on July 4, 2007 after the same number allocation problem that had afflicted 604 was bringing 250 close to exhaustion. [2] Effective June 23, 2008, ten-digit dialling became mandatory in British Columbia, and attempts to make a seven-digit call triggered an intercept message with a reminder of the new rule. After September 12, 2008, seven-digit dialling was no longer functional. [3] Overlays have become the preferred method of relief in Canada, as they offer an easy workaround for the number allocation problem.
The incumbent local exchange carrier in 604 and 778 is Telus. Through "number portability" and sub-allocation of all numbers in some exchanges to a competitor, many numbers in the 778 area code are now serviced by Shaw Cablesystems. [4]
On June 1, 2013, area code 236 was implemented as a distributed overlay of area codes 604, 250, and 778 and was expected to be exhausted in May 2020. [5] [6] As a result, area code 672 was implemented as an additional distributed overlay on May 4, 2019 to relieve area codes 604, 250, 778, and 236. [6]
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the telephone country code 1. Some North American countries, most notably Mexico, do not participate in the NANP.
Area codes 905, 289, 365, and 742 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Golden Horseshoe region that surrounds Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises (clockwise) the Niagara Peninsula, the city of Hamilton, the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, York, Durham, and parts of Northumberland County, but excludes the City of Toronto.
Area codes 613, 343, and 753 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Ottawa and surrounding Eastern Ontario, Canada. Area code 613 is one of the 86 original North American area codes assigned in October 1947. Area code 343 was assigned to the numbering plan area in an overlay plan activated on May 17, 2010. Area code 753 was assigned as an additional overlay code for the numbering plan area, activated on March 26, 2022.
In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to a geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to mitigate exhaustion of central office codes in growth areas. The method has been in use since 1992, and has been the preferred and exclusive method of relief since 2007.
Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories that are members of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when dialing to initiate a telephone call. When necessary, the ten-digit number may be prefixed with the trunk code 1, which is referred to as 1+10-digit dialing or national format.
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Area code 907 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of Alaska, except for the small southeastern community of Hyder, which uses area codes 236, 250, and 778 of neighboring Stewart, British Columbia.
Area code 250 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Canadian province of British Columbia outside the Lower Mainland, including Vancouver Island–home to the provincial capital, Victoria–and the province's Interior region. In addition, the numbering plan area extends into the United States community of Hyder, Alaska, located along the Canada–United States border near the town of Stewart. The incumbent local exchange carriers that service the area code are Telus, Northwestel, and CityWest in the city of Prince Rupert.
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Area codes 778, 236, and 672 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Canadian province of British Columbia. They form an overlay complex with area code 604, which serves only a small southwestern section, the Lower Mainland, of the province, and area code 250, which serves the rest of the province.
Area codes 306, 639, and 474 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the entire Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Area code 306 is the original area code, and area codes 639 and 474 were added to create an overlay plan for the entire province. The incumbent local exchange carrier is SaskTel.
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Area code 360 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for western Washington state outside metropolitan Seattle and west of the Cascade Mountains. Its numbering plan area (NPA) comprises all of western Washington outside urban King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and Bainbridge Island, Until January 15, 1995, when the area code commenced service, the numbering plan area (NPA) was served by area code 206, Washington's original area code since 1947.
Area codes 587, 825, and 368 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the entire Canadian province of Alberta. They form an overlay with both of the previously existing area code 403 of southern Alberta, and northern Alberta's 780. Telephone numbers in area code 587 were allocated starting in late 2008. The complex overlay involving a total of five area codes in Alberta mandated ten-digit dialing throughout Alberta.
Telephone numbers in Mexico are regulated by the Federal Telecommunications Institute, an independent government agency of Mexico. The agency published the Fundamental Technical Plan for Numbering on May 11, 2018. The plan establishes a uniform ten-digit telephone number format. It took effect on August 3, 2019.
Telephone numbers in Canada follow the fixed-length format of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) of a three-digit area code, a three-digit central office code, and a four-digit station or line code. This is represented as NPA NXX XXXX.
| North: 250/778/236/672 | ||
| West: 250/778/236/672 | 604 (overlaid by 778, 236, 672) | East: 250/778/236/672 |
| South: 360/564 | ||
| Washington area codes: 206, 253, 360, 425, 509, 564 | ||