Area Codes 905 and 289 - History

History

A previous version of 905 was once used as a block of alternate numbers for calls from the United States to Mexico (+52-5-...) in the days when overseas calls otherwise would have needed to be placed through a telephone operator. This use became obsolete with the widespread introduction of direct dial overseas calls and was completely abolished no later than February 1, 1991. Partly because of this prior usage of the number 905, area code 905 was the last of the "original-1947-format" area codes to be assigned (that is, area codes with "0" or "1" for the middle digit, and 2-9 for the last digit). By October 1991, the numbering plan area (NPA) had been assigned for use resultant from the geographical split of the area code. Automatic number identification (ANI) on the NPA's switching systems began transmission on October 11, 1992, for some central office codes, and full conversion was achieved by January 1, 1994.

Only five years after its introduction, and with the proliferation of cell phones, fax lines, and secondary phone lines for home dial-up internet use, the NPA was exhausting numbers at a much faster rate than anticipated. By 1999, the CRTC had established an ad-hoc committee to study NPA relief planning for area code 905. A split of the 905 NPA was considered, with various options presented:

• a geographic split by municipality (either two-way or three-way)
• a geographic split of concentric rings around Toronto
• re-aligning NPA boundaries (some areas retain 905, others acquire a new NPA); that is, a municipality and exchange split
• a distributed overlay

The last option was chosen because it was easier to implement technically, and required no changes for existing customers in the 905 area. The 289 NPA overlay was approved by the CRTC on August 15, 2000 (Order CRTC 2000-772), came into service on April 7, 2001, and was in full operation by June 9, 2001.

905 officially became exhausted in November 2005. All new central office prefixes are assigned in NPA 289, as there are no longer any available prefixes in 905. Due to the fact this is a large and rapidly growing region, area code 365 has been assigned for further relief on March 25, 2013, and area code 742 has also been set aside as a fourth area code as such will be required within 15 years at current growth rates.

In August 2000, Toufic Saliba, consultant and technical engineer at the Commission, directed the addition of area code 289 in the 905 area code region. In doing so, Saliba directed that all carriers put in place a 10-digit dialling plan for all local calls. In this order, the Commission directs Bell Canada to take the necessary steps to put in place the 10-digit local dialling plan.