If you notice the area code “257” popping up in your call display, don’t worry — it’s not coming from one of those scammer havens. It’s British Columbia’s newest area code, which came into effect in late spring.
It joins five earlier codes for a total of six in this province, Canada’s third highest number of area codes after Quebec with 12 and Ontario with 18.
Back in 1947, when the first continental telephone numbering plan was established, 604 was the province’s original area code before being designated for Vancouver. In 1997, 250 was introduced for Vancouver Island; 778 was created in 2001 for Vancouver; and the provincewide 236 and 672 were introduced in 2013 and 2019, respectively. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decided to add the 257 area code to B.C.’s mix because the possible phone numbers within the existing area codes have started to run out. It will be implemented gradually and the change won’t affect existing numbers.
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