(Montreal) Three new area codes will appear in Quebec starting in the fall.
Posted at 8:33 a.m.
Area code 263 will be introduced in Montreal in the 514/438 area, 354 will appear in the area served by area codes 450 and 579 on the outskirts of Montreal, and 468 will be assigned to areas currently served by area codes 819 and 873.
These new codes will come into effect on October 22.
Telecommunications Alliance spokesperson Lucie Papineau-Pugliese said in a press release that the introduction of a new area code makes it possible to provide millions of additional telephone numbers, without affecting existing numbers.
The arrival of these new codes will not lead to any change in the way of dialing long distance calls or special numbers such as 211, 311, 411, 611 and 911.
Recall that area code 514 was introduced in 1947 and area code 819 in 1957.
Over time, the growth in demand for new telecommunications services, particularly for wireless services, has accelerated the demand for new telephone numbers in Quebec.
Thus, area code 450 was introduced in 1998 to serve the outlying region of Montreal. 438 was added to the 514 area in 2006, 579 was introduced in 2010 to cover the 450 area, and finally 873 was added to the 819 area in 2012.