OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Ontario’s rapidly growing 905 region will become the first territory in Canada to have a third area code.
The CRTC has announced that new telephone numbers assigned in the regions around Toronto may be given the area code 365 starting March 25, 2013, in order to manage the telephone number shortage that will affect the areas currently covered by area codes 289 and 905.
These measures are being implemented in response to the Canadian Numbering Administrator’s warning that the region is expected to run out of telephone numbers by March 2014. Existing customers will keep their current area code and phone numbers.
In related news, the area code 343 will be introduced in eastern Ontario next month to the Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, Brockville, Cornwall and Bancroft areas currently served by the existing 613 code. The code will come into use gradually after May 17, and will be assigned only to new numbers.
The new 579 area code will be added to the geographic territory now served by the 450 code surrounding Montréal starting this August, while the new 249 area code will be introduced in the 705 region of Ontario starting March, 2011.
