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Wikipedia / Area code 604

Area code 604 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the southwestern corner of British Columbia, Canada. The numbering plan area comprises Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound / Sea-to-Sky Corridor, Fraser Valley, and the lower Fraser Canyon regions. The area code is one of the nine original North American area codes assigned to Canada in 1947. The numbering plan area is also served by area codes 236, 257, 672, and 778 in an overlay complex that extends to the entire province.

History

Area code 604 is one of the original 86 area codes assigned in 1947 in the contiguous United States and Canada. It designated the province of British Columbia. 604 also served Point Roberts, Washington, a pene-enclave of the United States until 1968, when the area was reassigned to area code 206; since 1995, it is 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 arose from rapid expansion of telecommunication services for cell phones and pagers. 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 telephone numbers.

On October 19, 1996, numbering plan area 604 was reduced to span Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, including the Sunshine Coast and Whistler, with the remainder of the province served by the new area code 250.

Although the 1996 split was intended as a long-term solution, within three years, 604 was close to exhaustion once again, due to the continued proliferation of cell phones and pagers. Numbers tended to be used up fairly quickly in Vancouver and its immediate neighbours.

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 NANPA Planning Letter 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. Effective June 23, 2008, ten-digit dialling became mandatory throughout the entire province of 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. 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 for 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 serviced by Rogers Communications (formerly Shaw Communications).

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. 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.

Service area

Surrey is divided into the following local rate centres:

  • Cloverdale574 575 576 577 579

  • Newton501 502 503 507 543 547 561 562 572 573 590 591 592 594 595 596 597 598 599 635

  • Whalley495 496 497 498 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 634 930 951 953 954 955 957

  • White Rock305 385 531 535 536 538 541 542 548

  • Vancouver205 215 216 218 219 220 221 222 224 225 228 230 235 240 250 251 252 253 254 255 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 266 267 268 269 280 281 282 290 291 292 293 294 296 297 298 299 301 307 312 313 314 315 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 331 333 334 335 336 338 339 340 341 343 345 346 347 348 349 352 353 354 355 356 358 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 379 386 387 396 397 398 401 403 404 408 412 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 450 451 453 454 456 473 482 484 488 494 499 500 505 506 559 563 565 566 568 570 571 601 602 603 605 606 608 609 612 618 619 620 622 623 628 629 630 631 632 633 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 671 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 699 704 707 708 709 710 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 742 753 754 757 767 771 773 775 779 780 781 782 783 785 786 789 790 800 801 802 803 806 809 812 816 817 822 827 829 830 831 834 836 837 839 841 842 844 861 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 879 880 891 893 895 899 909 910 915 916 918 928 961 968 970 974 975 976 977 978 979 992 999

  • West Vancouver229 281 670 758 912 913 920 921 922 923 925 926

  • Whistler203 388 400 402 493 698 902 905 906 907 932 935 938 962 964 965 966 967 972

  • Yale863

See also

References