THE PROVINCE will had a fourth area code at the beginning of June, says CityWest in a release today, April 18.
On June 1, area code 236 will be added to the 250, 604 and 778 calling areas to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services and numbers in the province, said the release.
After June 1, telephone numbers beginning with the 236 area code may be assigned for use, the release continued.
There will be no change to customers' existing 250 and 778 telephone numbers.
As well, 10-digit dialing will continue to be used for local calls within the area served by area codes 236, 250 and 778.
For customers in the region served by CityWest, the 236 area code will co-exist within the same geographic region as area codes 250 and 778.
Local and long distance calling areas and prices will not change with the adoption of the new 236 area code.
Customers with telephone numbers in area code 236 will get the same calling areas and prices as customers with telephone numbers in 250 and 778.
Emergency calls (9-1-1) will continue to be dialed using three digits.
Area Code 778 was added to the same region as the 604 area code on Nov. 3, 2001 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The 778 area code was expanded to the rest of the province July 7, 2007 when phone numbers were all used up in the 250 area code.
As of June 23, 2008, 10-digit dialing became mandatory in B.C.; trying to dial without the area code would trigger a recorded message to remind callers of the new rule.
After September 12, 2008, calls without the area code would not go through.
The 250 area code, which covers most of the province plus Vancouver Island, came into being Oct. 19, 1996 as a split of area code 604.
Area code 604, which once was the only area code for the province, covers the southwest, Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound/Sea to Sky Corridor, Fraser Valley and lower Fraser Canyon regions, including the city of Vancouver.
It was one of the original 86 area codes assigned in 1947 to the then-nine provinces and the contiguous U.S.
Area code 672 has been reserved for B.C. once area code 236 is exhausted, says the CRTC.