Area codes 306, 639, and 474 are telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

s in the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international callin ...

(NANP) for the entire

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. Area code 306 is the original area code, and area codes 639 and 474 were added to create an

overlay plan Overlay may refer to: Computers *Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network *Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application *Another term for exec, replacing one process ...

for the entire province. The incumbent local exchange carrier is

SaskTel Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communicati ...

. Area code 306 is one of the

original North American area codes The original North American area codes were established by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1947, following the demonstration of regional Operator Toll Dialing during the World War II period. The program had the goal of speedin ...

, which were assigned in 1947 in the contiguous United States and the nine provinces then in Canada. By the mid-2000s, area code 306 was on the brink of exhaustion because of demand for telecommunication services from the proliferation of cell phones and other mobile devices requiring unique telephone numbers, particularly in Regina and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. The shortage was exacerbated by Canada's inefficient system of number allocation. All

competitive local exchange carrier A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), in the United States and Canada, is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a " carrier") competing with other, already established carriers, generally the incumbent local exchange carrie ...

s in Canada are allocated exclusive access to at least one three-digit

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

, each with 10,000 numbers each, for every rate centre in which they plan to offer service, even for the smallest hamlets. While competing carriers do not necessarily need that many numbers in a particular market, but unused numbers are unavailable for use elsewhere once they are assigned to a particular carrier and rate centre. Since

number pooling Number pooling is a method of reallocating telephony numbering space in the North American Numbering Plan, primarily in growth areas in the United States. Instead of allocating blocks of ten thousand numbers to each carrier in each community, a bl ...

is not used as a relief measure in Canada, that resulted in thousands of wasted numbers. In October 2010, in order to facilitate long-term planning nationwide, the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) tentatively reserved a number of new area codes for the future relief of existing area codes that were expected to exhaust in the next 25 years; area code 474 was set aside to cover area code 306 and the province of Saskatchewan. In early 2011, however, a routine analysis by the

Canadian Numbering Administrator The Canadian Numbering Administration Consortium is the corporation responsible for administering Canada's telecommunication numbering resources. The CNA is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). CNAC ...

(CNA) revealed that area code 306 had experienced an unforecasted surge in phone number allocation and was at risk of exhaustion within three years (a situation referred to as a "jeopardy condition"). In response, the CRTC immediately initiated relief planning measures. The planning committee evaluated multiple options involving a north-south split of 306, with half the province retaining 306 while the other half transferred to a new area code. Ultimately, the committee determined that an overlay area code was overwhelmingly better. Given the CRTC's decision the year before, the committee's initial planning document (dated May 18, 2011) recommended the assignment of area code 474 for this purpose, mirroring an assumption that had already been reported in the press. However, by the time the committee's planning document was finalized on July 13, 2011, the recommended new area code had changed to 639, an option that was regarded as equally technically viable. The document did not address this divergence from the CRTC's prior allocation nor give a reason for the change, but news reports suggest that it was SaskTel who made the decision to eschew 474, citing a sensitivity to

tetraphobia Tetraphobia () is the practice of avoiding instances of the digit . It is a superstition most common in East Asian nations. __TOC__ Rationale The Chinese word for "four" (, pinyin: sì, jyutping: sei3), sounds quite similar to the word for "de ...

in the community, and that the choice of 639 as a replacement was based on its mathematical similarities with the existing area code. The decision to implement 639 as an overlay had the effect of allocating 15.8 million numbers to a province of just over a million people. However, SaskTel and other carriers wanted to spare existing subscribers, particularly in rural areas, the expense and burden of changing their numbers. Overlays have become the preferred method of area code relief in Canada; no area codes have been split in the country since 1999.

Ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories that are members of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when dialing to initiate a telep ...

began in 2012 and became mandatory throughout the province in May 2013. On August 26, 2011, the CRTC accepted the relief planning committee's recommendation. In accordance with the CRTC's final decision,

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories that are members of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when dialing to initiate a telep ...

was phased in for area code 306 starting on February 25, 2013. On that date, a

permissive dialing In North America, permissive dialing is the ability to make phone calls in an area subject to a newly introduced area code by using both the new and preexisting dialing methods. When an area is given a new area code under a split plan, the area's ...

period began during which seven- and ten-digit calls could complete. Ten-digit dialing became mandatory in Saskatchewan on May 11, 2013; attempts to make seven-digit calls triggered

intercept message An intercept message is a telephone recording informing the caller that the call cannot be completed, for any of a number of reasons ranging from local congestion, to disconnection of the destination phone, number dial errors or network trouble a ...

s reminding callers of the new rule. Area code 639 was to be overlaid onto 306 effective May 25, 2013. Beginning on September 26, 2013, seven-digit dialing no longer functioned. Until the implementation of area code 639, Saskatchewan was the last of Canada's original NPAs where seven-digit dialing was still possible. In July 2018, area code 474 was reserved as a future area code for all of Saskatchewan, as area codes 306 and 639 are expected to exhaust as early as June 2022. Area code 474 was allocated on October 2, 2021.

Service area and central office prefixes

Arborfield Arborfield is a village on the A327 road in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies in the civil parish of Arborfield and Newland in the Borough of Wokingham, about west of its sister village of Arborfield Cr ...

: (306) - 768 *

Balgonie Balgonie is a town in southeast Saskatchewan. Situated at the intersection of Highways 10, 46, and the Trans-Canada Highway, the town is part of the White Butte region and neighbours Pilot Butte, White City, and McLean. As well, it is loc ...

: (306) - 702 771 * Beauval: (306) - 288 * Borden: (306) - 997 * Bredenbury: (306) - 620 898 * Buchanan: (306) - 592 * Calder: (306) - 742 * Canora: (306) - 563 * Carrot River: (306) - 401 768 *

Central Butte Central Butte is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, approximately from Saskatoon, Regina and Swift Current and from Moose Jaw. Thunder Creek, a major tributary of the Moose Jaw River, begins west of the community. The town is served by the Centr ...

: (306) - 796 * Churchbridge: (306) - 896 *

Colonsay Colonsay (; gd, Colbhasa; sco, Colonsay) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argyll ...

: (306) - 255 *

Dalmeny Dalmeny ( gd, Dùn Mheinidh, IPA: �t̪uːnˈvenɪʝ is a village and civil parish in Scotland. It is located on the south side of the Firth of Forth, southeast of South Queensferry and west of Edinburgh city centre. It lies within the tradit ...

: (306) - 254 * Dubuc: (306) - 877 * Esterhazy: (306) - 701 745 *

Estevan Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

: (306) - 308 339 340 415 421 461 471 634 636 637 687 (639) - 450 534 *

Eston Eston is a Village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The ward covering the area (as well as Lackenby, Lazenby and Wilton) had a population of 7,005 at the 2011 census. It is part of Greater Eston, which include ...

: (306) - 402 *

Eyebrow An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, communication through facial expression, and second, preven ...

: (306) - 759 * Foam Lake: (306) - 272 *

Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...

: (306) - 331 332 804 900 *

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

: (306) - 245 * Goodeve: (306) - 876 * Grayson & Crooked Lake: (306) - 794 * Hanley: (306) - 544 *

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

: (306) - 470 865 * Humboldt: (306) - 231 289 320 366 367 368 598 682 944 (639) - 535 *

Invermay Invermay () is a diffuse settlement in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated approximately 2 km southeast of Forteviot on the Water of May, some 8 km southwest of Perth. Before the mid 15th century, it was known as ''Innermeat ...

: (306) - 493 *

Kamsack Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada is a town in the Assiniboine River Valley, where the Whitesand River joins the Assiniboine River. It is northeast of Yorkton. Highway 8 and Highway 5 intersect in the town. Coté First Nation is located north an ...

: (306) - 542 591 * Kelvington: (306) - 327 *

Kindersley Kindersley is a town surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Kindersley No. 290 in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Highway 7, a primary highway linking Calgary, Alberta and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At a population of 4,597 ...

: (306) - 379 430 460 463 512 604 806 838 965 967 968 (639) - 539 *

Kenaston Kenaston ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of McCraney No. 282 and Census Division No. 11. Kenaston is located on Highway 11 (Louis Riel Trail) at the junction of Highwa ...

: (306) - 252 *

Langenburg Langenburg () is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on a hill above the river Jagst, 18 km northeast of Schwäbisch Hall. It is also the place where Wibele - small, sweet, biscuit-like ...

: (306) - 496 740 743 *

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

: (306) - 335 *

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...

: (306) - 214 307 603 808 820 821 825 830 875 (639) - 536 840 * Lumsden: (306) - 731 (639) - 392 * Luseland: (306) - 372 *

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

: (306) - 788 * Meadow Lake: (306) - 234 236 240 304 819 (639) - 537 * Meath Park: (306) - 929 * Melfort: (306) - 275 277 346 752 863 920 921 * Melville: (306) - 607 705 707 720 728 730 748 760 *

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

: (306) - 436 (639) - 440 450 * Mistatim: (306) - 889 *

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

: (306) - 214 313 556 624 630 631 681 684 690 691 692 693 694 704 756 905 972 983 990 (639) - 538 * Neudorf: (306) - 748 *

Nipawin Nipawin () is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Saskatchewan River portion of Tobin Lake. The town lies between Codette Lake, created by the Francois-Finlay Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Dam built in ...

: (306) - 862 * Norquay: (306) - 594 *

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

: (306) - 208 317 386 407 440 441 445 446 470 480 481 490 499 817 906 937 * Pelly: (306) - 595 * Pilot Butte: (306) - 584 586 781 *

Porcupine Plain Porcupine Plain is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is accessed by Highway 23. Greenwater Lake Provincial Park is southwest on Highway 38. The town is located within the Porcupine Provincial Forest. The town was originally settled by return ...

: (306) - 278 *

Preeceville Preeceville is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada. The town is 10 km (6 miles) west of Sturgis and 99 km (62 miles) north of Yorkton at the junction of Highway 49, Highway 47, Highway 9 and near Highway 755. Demographics In the 202 ...

: (306) - 547 * Prince Albert: (306) - 314 557 703 763 764 765 904 922 930 940 941 953 960 961 970 980 981 987 (639) - 314 533 760 * Prud'homme: (306) - 654, (639) - 653 * Radisson: (306) - 827 (639) - 913 * Regina: (306) - 201 205 206 209 216 337 347 351 352 359 450 501 502 503 509 510 517 519 520 522 523 525 526 527 529 530 531 533 535 536 537 539 540 541 543 545 546 550 551 552 559 564 565 566 569 570 580 581 584 585 586 591 596 719 721 737 751 757 761 766 775 777 779 780 781 787 789 790 791 797 798 807 908 910 924 926 936 949 988 992 993 994 995 999 (639)-221 316 444 528 560 571 590 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 625 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 739 740 888 915 955 997 999 *

Rhein Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * ...

: (306) - 273 *

Rocanville Rocanville is a community in Saskatchewan, Canada, and home to the largest oil can in the world. It is home of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) potash mine which recently announced a $1.6 billion expansion. Rocanville is also th ...

: (306) - 645 * Rose Valley: (306) - 322 * Rouleau: (306) - 776, (639) - 394 *

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

: (306) - 744 *

: (306) - 200 202 203 220 221 222 227 229 230 241 242 244 249 250 251 260 261 262 270 280 281 290 291 292 321 341 343 361 370 371 373 374 380 381 382 384 385 477 491 500 514 518 612 649 651 652 653 655 657 659 664 665 667 668 683 700 713 715 716 717 803 844 850 866 875 880 881 899 902 912 914 931 933 934 938 952 955 956 964 966 974 975 977 978 979 985 986 996 998 (639) - 220 317 470 471 480 630 635 887 916 994 996 998 * Sheho: (306) - 849 * St. Isidore-de-Bellevue: (306) - 423 *

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

: (306) - 793 *

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

: (306) - 725 (639) - 914 * Sturgis: (306) - 548 *

Swift Current Swift Current is the fifth largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Trans Canada Highway west of Moose Jaw, and east of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Swift Current grew 6.8% between 2011 and 2016, ending up at ...

: (306) - 315 437 712 741 750 770 772 773 774 778 816 907 971 973 (639) - 541 *

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

: (306) - 647 * Tisdale: (306) - 873 *

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

: (306) - 228 *

Uranium City Uranium City is a northern settlement in Saskatchewan, Canada. Located on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca near the border of the Northwest Territories, it is above sea level. The settlement is northwest of Prince Albert, northeast of ...

: (306) - 498 * Wadena: (306) - 338 * Watrous: (306) - 917 946 (639)-395 *

Weyburn Weyburn is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. The city has a population of 10,870. It is on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina and is north from the North Dakota border in the ...

: (306) - 405 504 509 809 842 848 861 869 870 891 897 908 * Wynyard: (306) - 554 *

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

: (306) - 316 521 620 621 641 708 782 783 786 818 828 890 909 (639) - 540 *Premium services: 1+(306/639) - 976.

References

External links

NANPA planning letter PL-439 with diagrams and maps showing application of 639.Telecom archives

{{Coord, 54, 30, 30, N, 105, 40, 00, W, display=title, name=Area code 306

306 __NOTOC__ Year 306 ( CCCVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 105 ...

Area codes A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

Service area and central office prefixes

See also

References

External links