The province of Ontario will receive a new area code this fall.

The growing demand for telephone numbers made it necessary to introduce a new area code. To meet this demand, a new area code will be introduced in southern Ontario this fall.

The area code 742 will be released on October 16 and will be phased in gradually in areas currently served by area codes 905, 289, and 265.

The new area code 742 will be assigned to a new customer when the pool of old area codes at a given telephone operator runs out.

So, when ordering a home, mobile, VoIP (Voice over IP) or business number, people in southern Ontario will start receiving a new area code in addition to existing area codes numbers. As each operator receives a fixed pool of numbers allocated to him by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, new numbers will begin to be added when area codes from previous assignments end.

Several million additional telephone numbers may be offered under one area code. Offering area code 742 will in no way affect the geographical boundaries for local calls or the way long distance calls are made.

The first area codes for telephones introduced in southern Ontario were 416 and 613. This was in 1947. To serve the Toronto area, an additional area code 905 was introduced in 1993. In 2001 another area code 289 was introduced, and in 2013 another area code 365.

Currently, telephone area codes 416, 647 and 437 serve the same area for local calls. Most telephone numbers under these area codes are operated by Bell Canada. Almost all Bell’s Toronto landline numbers are at the area code 416 or 647.

Growing competition on the market of mobile telephony services, but also on the market of fixed, landline telephony, offering home phone numbers, business phone numbers, and VoIP – Voice over IP Internet telephony used among others by cable and other operators mean that the demand for new area codes is constantly growing.

Like the 212 area codes for New York and 312 for Chicago, demand for 416 numbers for mobile, voice over IP services in the “905 suburbs” – Peel, Halton, York and Durham region has made the number valuable as its local calling area is a superset of that of a suburban number.

Currently, the proper Toronto is defined by 416, the residents of Toronto are referred to as 416ers. In recent years, Toronto has come to be referred to as “The 6”. The suburbs are referred to as 905 or 905 belt, and suburbanites are called 905ers. The number 647 does not bear such a strong geographic association as it mainly covers mobile telephony and voice over IP services.

The incumbent Bell landline is hard-wired to a specific location in area 416, postal code M. Many businesses pay a premium to get a true 416 number because that area code gives the appearance of a local, long-established business instead of a new entrant.