B.C. is getting a new area code this weekend

If you're planning on opening a new phone line this weekend, you might be one of the first in B.C. to have a number with the new 257 area code. 

The new area code will be added to B.C.'s roster starting Saturday. It will join the existing codes 236, 250, 604, 672 and 778 in servicing residents throughout the province. The new area code will have no impact on existing phone numbers. 

Who comes up with new area codes?

The decision was made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 2023, after the Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) advised that the area codes servicing B.C. were "projected to exhaust" by May 2026. 

The CNA is responsible for assigning Central Office (CO) codes — which are the middle three numbers of a phone number — within a new area code to telephone service providers once a decision has been made by the CRTC. 

CNA program manager Kelly Walsh says telephone service providers can apply for specific CO codes around 66 days before the relief implementation date, which is when a new area code is set to go into effect. For 257, that's this Saturday.

Walsh says some service providers like to ask for "cool numbers" like 777, 377, 277 and numbers in the hundreds series, like 700, 500 and 200.

What's happening to the old ones?

The CRTC decided to add the 257 area code to B.C.'s mix because the possible phone numbers within the existing area codes in the province have started to run out. 

The new area code will be implemented via the "distributed overlay method" where new codes are issued to the same geographical area as pre-existing codes, meaning customers don't have to change their numbers.

With this new area code, millions of new phone numbers can be created, according to the Telecommunications Alliance, a group of Canada's major telecom service providers that have joined forces to inform the public about the introduction of new area codes.