A new area code is entering the mix in Montreal this weekend. Moving 438s and 514s into highly coveted, exclusive rank, the 263 area code will be effective as of October 22.
In a November 2021 news release, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that they had officially approved the distribution of the brand new 263 area code in the Montreal area.
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The decision had been in the works since 2019, when the CRTC predicted that 514 and 438 numbers “were projected to exhaust by November 2024.” It was later determined that the exhaust date for the two codes was actually February 2024.
Along with the change in Montreal comes one in the region outside the Island currently using 450 and 579 numbers. Areas like Laval will now start issuing the area code 354. On top of that, the area code 468 will be introduced to regions currently served by 819 and 873.
People with phone numbers containing older area codes will not have to change them.