Area codes 819, 873, and 468

Sherbrooke, Québec

Ontario and Quebec were the only Canadian provinces that received assignments of multiple area codes from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) when the original North American area codes were created in 1947.

The eastern part of Quebec received area code 418, while the western part, from the US border to Hudson Strait, was assigned area code 514. After assignment of area code 819 in 1956,[1] a 1957 flash cut split the 514 area into three segments. The southern region (including Montreal) retained 514; the middle region received 819, and the northern region, which had no telephone services, was added to 418.

Area code 819 thus bordered area code 613 and the new area code 705 in Ontario, area code 418 in the east and the north of Quebec, and the remainder of area code 514 in the south of Quebec.

When telephone service was introduced in the eastern Northwest Territories (most of which is now the territory of Nunavut, created in 1999), in Frobisher Bay in 1958, Bell Canada nominally made it part of area code 418. In the 1960s and the 1970s, telephone service was introduced by Bell Canada at other locations in the eastern Northwest Territories and along the Quebec Arctic coastline, as well as by Sotel, an independent company, in the James Bay region. Those non-diallable locations also became part of area code 418.

In the late 1970s, the northern parts of area code 418 served by Sotel and Bell along James, Hudson and Ungava Bays and Hudson Strait, as well as the eastern Northwest Territories, were assigned to area code 819 as exchanges in that area began to receive direct distance dialling. Thus, area code 819 now also bordered area code 709 of Newfoundland in the Torngat Mountain area and area code 403 where Bell Canada and Northwestel service areas met, as well as area code 204 (Manitoba) and area code 807 (northwestern Ontario). Also, from the late 1970s to 1997, area code 819 extended one eighth of the way around the world, from the 45th parallel north at Stanstead, Quebec, to the North Pole, including much of the Northwest Territories along with most of western Quebec. Northwestel used Alberta's area code 403 for its services in Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

In 1997 and 1998, the portions of 819 in the Northwest Territories, as well as the portions of 403 in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, were transferred to area code 867, which was newly created to unite all of the Canadian territories, including Nunavut. Area code 819 was cut back to western Quebec, and area code 403 was reduced to serve only Alberta. Thus, borders with area codes 403, 204, and 807 were replaced with the single border on area code 867. Area code 514 was split shortly afterward, which changed area code's 819's border with 514 to a boundary with Area code 450, the new area code for the off-island suburbs of Montreal.

Until 2006, it was possible to make calls between Ottawa and Hull with only seven digits since Ottawa and Hull are a single local calling area. Central office code protection prevented the same seven-digit local number from being assigned in both Ottawa and Hull; thus if an exchange in 819-77x (819-PRovince) was in use in Hull, the corresponding 1-613-77x exchange could not be used anywhere in Eastern Ontario. Conversely, if an exchange in 613-23x was used in Ottawa, the corresponding 819-23x exchange could not be used anywhere in western Quebec, even in areas a safe distance from the National Capital Region such as Mauricie and Estrie.

In Canada, even tiny hamlets are a rate centres, with multiple competitive local exchange carriers being issued 10,000-number blocks, each of which corresponds to a single three-digit prefix. Larger cities had multiple rate centres, most of which were not amalgamated during the creation of "megacities" in Quebec in 2002 and still remain separate. For instance, Hull was in 2002 merged into the "megacity" of Gatineau. However, the megacity has five separate rate centres, which have never been amalgamated. The city centre exchange (serving the former cities of Hull and Pointe-Gatineau) is still named "Ottawa-Hull", and the "Gatineau" exchange serves only the pre-merger city of Gatineau.[2] The Gatineau and Aylmer exchanges, despite being part of the amalgamated municipality of Gatineau, remained long-distance calls to each other until a 16 August 2007 expansion of their local calling area, five years after the merger.[3]

Many smaller rate centres do not need anywhere near 10,000 numbers to serve their customers, but a number cannot be assigned elsewhere once it has been allocated to a carrier and rate centre. That resulted in thousands of "wasted" numbers, and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers have exacerbated the problem. By 2006, area code 819 was effectively exhausted except for central office codes that theoretically could have been assigned in Hull but only by breaking seven-digit dialling between Ottawa and Hull.

Ten-digit dialling became mandatory in both area codes, 819 and 613, on October 21, 2006, and exchange protection was largely ended. Seven-digit local calls in centres far from the area code boundary (such as Trois-Rivières and Belleville, with no local calling into any other area code at the time) were failing, with intercept messages demanding customers to "dial the area code".

The only legacy of the old system is a "dual dialability" scheme for federal government numbers in the National Capital Region. All federal government offices on the Quebec side have duplicated their entire allocation of multiple exchanges on the Ontario side.

Originally to be introduced in 2015, the CRTC on July 20, 2011 brought forward the introduction of the new area code 873 to September 15, 2012 after a report stated that the current area code 819 would be exhausted by then.[4] Area code 873 had never been assigned as a local exchange in 1-819 because the tiny border village Beebe Plain is divided between 1-819-876 Rock Island and 1-802-873 Derby Line, an international local call that had been given exchange code protection to permit seven-digit local dialling.

There is no number pooling in Canada, and redundant telephone exchange rate centres are not merged when the underlying municipalities are amalgamated.

In February 2017, area code 468 was reserved as a third area code in the region.[5] This area code became active on October 20, 2022.[6]

• List of North American Numbering Plan area codes

• CNA exchange list for area +1-819
• CNA exchange list for area +1-873
• Telecom archives
• Local Calling Guide
• Area Code Map of Canada

52.384°N 74.846°W / 52.384; -74.846