Canada’s biggest carriers want the CRTC to scale back a plan that’s supposed to slow down the arrival of new area codes.
In a joint filing with the CRTC dated October 22, Bell, Rogers, Telus, SaskTel, Westman, Quebecor (which owns Videotron and Freedom) and a group representing small independent phone companies asked the regulator to limit where a new way of handing out phone numbers has to be used.
Today, carriers get phone numbers in blocks of 10,000 for each local exchange. Lots of those numbers sit unused, which is part of why Toronto picked up the 942 area code and B.C. added 257 last year.
The fix is called thousand-block pooling. Carriers share a common pool and take numbers in blocks of 1,000 instead, so fewer go to waste. The CRTC first ordered the change in February 2024, then pushed back the deadline in a decision last November after small providers asked for more time.
That decision told the industry to phase it in, starting with a trial that launched July 28 in Markham, Brampton and Victoria. The industry’s schedule covers about 110 busy exchanges in six phases, with the last one switching by July 28, 2027.
According to the carriers, the decision’s wording could be read as requiring every exchange that supports number portability to switch by that date, which they put at more than 2,000 exchanges. They want the CRTC to confirm that only exchanges with real demand need to make the jump. If it meant every exchange, they’re asking it to change the rule.
No carrier has ordered a single thousand block in the three trial cities yet, the filing says, because they still have numbers left in their existing blocks. That means the trial has produced “no operational learnings” so far, and the next phase doesn’t start until December.
Carriers also argue Canada isn’t close to running out. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator’s 2025 annual report projects numbers across the continent will last until 2060, or 2052 if demand runs 20 per cent above forecasts. Canada has also secured a new area code and can get more as needed, according to the filing.
In the U.S., pooling began in 2002 and still isn’t required in about 46 per cent of rate centres, the carriers note.
Call reliability is the other big worry. If even one carrier in an exchange isn’t ready, the filing warns of misrouted or failed calls, failed transfers when you switch providers, and the same number being handed to two customers. That last problem still happens in the U.S., and it usually ends with one person giving up their number.
Small rural providers would be hit hardest, since they’d pay for system upgrades in places where nobody is asking for new numbers. As a middle ground, the carriers suggest the CRTC have the industry study an “Optional” label for exchanges outside the schedule, letting carriers pool there if they want, much like the U.S. does.
The CRTC hasn’t ruled yet. If it sides with the carriers, the switch stays focused on the 110 exchanges, with more added as demand grows.
Would you rather see fewer new area codes, or is the risk to call reliability not worth rushing the change?
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
