705 area: northern Ontario
Explosion in the demand for phone numbers
The growing popularity of new communications services and technologies has led to a dramatic increase in the demand for phone numbers, in several regions across Canada.
The solution: 10-digit local dialing. The introduction of this dialing method will enable the creation of millions of new numbers for these regions.
New area codes
10-digit dialing allows for new area codes to be introduced.
For each new area code introduced, more than 7 millions new numbers are created.
Other new area codes will thus be introduced as follows:
- 343 in the 613 region in eastern Ontario in May 2010
- 579 in the province of Quebec's 450 region in August 2010
- 249 in Northern Ontario’s 705 region in March 2011
Adding new area codes using the overlay method
Rather than having to divide up geographic regions, with the overlay method, a new area code can simply be added to the same geographic area as the existing code.
This means that existing numbers remain the same. The new area codes will be assigned only to new numbers.
10-digit dialing becomes mandatory
When a new area code is added, 10-digit dialing then becomes mandatory for all local calls. The same phone number can therefore exist in two separate area codes.