New phone area code coming to Toronto, Mississauga and GTA
Published May 13, 2023 at 12:57 pm
If you currently live in either Toronto, Mississauga or the GTA or plan on calling it home in the near future— get ready because a fourth area code will soon be available to relieve residents from the sparse supply of 416, 437, and 647 phone numbers.
Be prepared to see numbers on your call displays beginning with 942, as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has officially given the green light for the rollout of this new area code last Wednesday (May. 10)
The 942 overlay code will come into effect as of April 26, 2025.
According to a CRTC report from 2022—all existing 416, 437, and 647 phone numbers are predicated to be exhausted by April 2026. This means the dwindling supply of these codes will be completely gone, just a year after the 942 rollout.
“Given that there are already two distributed overlay area codes in place over the original area code 416 in Toronto […] the Commission considers that the only logical method for providing further area code relief in these locations is the addition of another distributed overlay area code,” the decision reads.
If we’re keeping count — this will be the third time a new area code has been introduced to the mix and overlaid on the original 416 zone.
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Back in 2001, area code 647 was added and then over a decade later in 2013 the 437 area code was introduced to relieve the exhausted 416, and 647 numbers.
Similarly area code overlays have been required for the quickly growing 905 region surrounding Toronto. The overlays include 289, 365, and most recently, the 742 area codes.