Evolution of area codes in Ontario and southwestern Quebec
Area code 613 was originally assigned to a numbering plan area that included all of Ontario with the exception of theGolden Horseshoe, which was assigned thearea code 416. The numbering plan area has been split twice. In 1953, the southwestern Ontario portion of 613 was combined with the western portion of 416 to become numbering plan area519. In 1957, the vast northwestern portion of 613 was combined with the northern portion of 519 to receive area code 705. Since 1957, 613 covers only eastern Ontario, an area extending fromBrighton andDeep River eastward toSaint Regis, Quebec.
Ottawa and its twin city inQuebec,Gatineau, fall on the boundary between 613 and Quebec'sarea code 819. However, Ottawa shares a local calling area with the former city ofHull, Quebec (now part of the city of Gatineau). As a result, for 46 years, a call could be completed between Ottawa and Hull with only seven digits.
While there are fewer than two million people in the geographic area served by 613, the bulk of that population lives in the Ottawa area. To preserve seven-digit dialling between Ottawa and Hull, anexchange code protection scheme was implemented so that the same seven-digit local number could not be assigned on both sides of theNational Capital Region. Technically, it was only necessary that no two prefixes within the same local calling area be duplicates, but the code protection as implemented reserved the numbers across both area codes. This meant that if an 819-number was being used in Hull, the corresponding 613-number could not be used anywhere in eastern Ontario, even in areas a safe distance from the National Capital Region such asBrighton. Similarly, if a 613-number was being used in Ottawa–Carleton, the corresponding 819-number could not be used anywhere in western Quebec. Federal government offices in Hull duplicated their entire allocation of multiple exchanges worth of numbers available in 613 as part of a "dual dialability" scheme.
By the turn of the century, both 613 and 819 were close to exhaustion due to Canada's inefficient number allocation system. Everycompetitive local exchange carrier received blocks of 10,000 numbers (corresponding to a single prefix) in every rate centre in which it planned to offer local service, no matter how small. A tiny unincorporated village (likeOdessa, Ontario, with no telephone central office but still listed as a rate centre) usually received multiple 10,000-number blocks. Once a number is assigned to a rate centre and CLEC, it is unavailable for use elsewhere, even in cases when a rate centre has more numbers than it needs. Larger municipalities have multiple rate centres and multiple competing carriers in each. For instance, even though Ottawa has been a single municipality since merging with theRegional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001, it still has 11 rate centres (plus portions of other rate centres primarily located beyond the city limits) – most with very similar local calling areas – which have never been amalgamated. The "Ottawa–Hull" exchange only covers the area that was the city of Ottawa prior to the 2001 amalgamation, plus the former suburbs ofNepean (central part) andVanier and small sections of other urban communities.
Since Canada does not usenumber pooling as a relief measure, many telephone numbers in the area code remained unused, since it was not possible to reassign them from smaller rate centres to larger ones like Ottawa,Kingston, andBelleville. The proliferation of cell phones and pagers, particularly in the larger cities in the 613 area, only magnified the problem. The allocation problem was even more severe on the Quebec side; by 2006, the only remaining unassigned exchange prefixes in the entire 819 region were numbers which could not be assigned to what had been Hull without breaking seven-digit dialling to Ottawa.
Ten-digit dialling in 613 and 819 became mandatory on October 21, 2006. Intraprovincial calls from rate centres with no local calling beyond a small fragment of their own area code were returningintercept messages if dialled as seven digits. Exchange protection in the National Capital Region was ended, except for the "dual dialability" scheme for government numbers on both sides of the river.[1]
Within two years, it became apparent that a new area code was necessary due to the continued number allocation problem – an issue exacerbated by the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. A geographic split was quickly ruled out. Local telephone companies did not want the expense and burden of changing existing customers' numbers, which would have requireden masse reprogramming of cell phones. As a result,overlay area codes were proposed for both 613 and 819. By this time, overlays had become the preferred method of relief in Canada, as they are an easy workaround for the number allocation problems that brought the numbering pools on both sides of theOttawa River under strain.
On 10 November 2021, the Canadian Numbering Administrator approved an additionaloverlay code for the numbering plan area 613/343.Area code 753 was assigned for activation on March 26, 2022.[6][7]
Area code 871 has been reserved as the fourth area code for the region since May 2025.[8]
The main incumbent local exchange carrier in area code 613 isBell Canada, but there are some five independent companies serving rural exchanges: the Lansdowne Rural Telephone Company, servingLansdowne;[9] the North Frontenac Telephone Company, servingSharbot Lake andParham;[10] the North Renfrew Telephone Company, servingBeachburg,Westmeath, and the area outsidePembroke;[11] the Roxborough Telephone Company, servingMoose Creek;[12] and the Westport Telephone Company, servingWestport.[13]
Also served by area code 613 and Bell Canada is Saint-Régis, Quebec. The exchange covers the Mohawk nation territory ofAkwesasne, which straddles the Ontario–Québec–New York border. Calls from Saint-Régis toFort Covington, New York, are local although they cross an international border.[14]
In Ontario, the Ottawa–Hull exchange covers the pre-2001 city of Ottawa, from Nepean to Vanier only. For the municipality of Ottawa, see Ottawa–Hull, Constance Bay, Gloucester, Jockvale, Kanata, Manotick, Metcalfe, Navan, North Gower, Orléans, Osgoode.
